"Ramon Centeno spent most of his four years in a Venezuelan prison lying down. He could barely move around his cramped cell, where thin sheets of fabric hung between the bunk beds for a sliver of privacy. There were no windows to catch a glimpse of the sun, only a dim yellow light from the corridor that crept across the concrete floor."
"Centeno, a journalist, was arrested in 2022 over an interview the government disapproved of, one that linked former officials to alleged drug trafficking. He became one of the thousands of political prisoners Venezuela has held over the years on charges that rights groups describe as arbitrary and politically motivated. He still remembers the first time his mum came to see him in prison in Caracas and they shared a flash of pain at him not being able to leave with her."
""When we turned around, we looked at each other me behind bars and her in tears," Centeno said. But in the early hours of January 14, the 38-year-old was unexpectedly freed. His mum greeted him in her best clothes and makeup, as if she were attending a celebration, and guided him out in a wheelchair. "It was an indescribable moment," he told Al Jazeera of his release. "I felt like I was being reborn a birth towards freedom.""
Venezuela's new government under President Delcy Rodriguez released hundreds of political detainees amid public demonstrations outside El Helicoide prison. Ramon Centeno, a journalist arrested in 2022 over an interview linking former officials to alleged drug trafficking, spent four years in a cramped, windowless cell with burned-out lightbulbs and daily military-style chants. Rights groups describe thousands of detentions as arbitrary and politically motivated. Centeno was unexpectedly freed on January 14 and described his release as being reborn, though his mother, who had greeted him, died of a stroke almost two weeks later. The releases raise questions about legal accountability and ongoing personal costs.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]