CARACAS, (MILLAT/APP/AFP) – Venezuela’s Supreme
Court on Thursday upheld opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez’s nearly 14-year prison sentence, a day after US President Donald Trump called for his release.
The founder of Popular Will, one of the most hardline of the parties
opposing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Lopez was sentenced on charges of inciting unrest at anti-government protests that left 43 people dead in 2014.
“The appeal was declared inadmissible. It is a reality and an act of
absolute injustice,” defense lawyer Juan Carlos Gutierrez told AFP, adding that the case is closed in Venezuela and can be appealed only to international bodies.
The ruling on the appeal — filed in July — came a day after Trump
received Lopez’s wife Lilian Tintori at the White House.
“Venezuela should allow Leopoldo Lopez, a political prisoner & husband of @liliantintor i (just met w/ @marcorubio) out of prison immediately,” Trump tweeted following the meeting.
The government called Tintori’s meeting with Trump an “intrusion and
aggression.”
Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez blamed Venezuelan opposition “lobbies” within “the Miami mafia.”
“While President Maduro proposed starting a new era of respectful
relations, Donald Trump is in solidarity with the leader of violent actions,” he said.