Public Space recorded 101 violations of freedom of expression in Venezuela during August

The NGO Espacio Público documented 101 violations of the right to freedom of expression during the month of August, 67 fewer than in July, when 168 were recorded, the highest figure of the yearor, according to a note released this Friday.

The NGO said that the violations of freedom of expression occurred mainly through acts of censorship, intimidation and harassment, in the context of the “demonstrations and political conflict in the midst of the post-electoral crisis.

The organization also documented 56 cases, including media outlets, individuals, journalists or press workers, whose rights to freedom of expression were violated, according to Espacio Público.

«Freedom of expression violations in August were committed by 77 perpetrators, most of whom were linked to the Venezuelan State. Among them are 31 state institutions, 18 security forces, 10 officials, 8 private operators and 6 people linked to the Executive Branch,” said the organization, which did not detail the remaining 4.

Journalists and media affected by freedom of expression violations in Venezuela

In this regard, he stated that the Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) “promoted the arbitrary detention of citizens who spread information critical of the government on social networks and instant messaging applications, such as WhatsApp.”

He mentioned cases of people who were arrested for creating and distributing a video on the social network TikTok showing disagreement with the government or through opposition-related publications.

He also documented cases of foreign journalists who were deported, the raid on the headquarters of the newspaper The Caroreño in Lara state and an attack against the national media Such and Such which blocked access to its content via the Internet.

In the post-election protests against the official result of the presidential election, which gave Maduro re-election, the Executive recorded 25 deaths and more than 2,400 arrests, including, according to Espacio Público, 16 journalists, of whom 12 have not yet been released.

The post-election crisis arose from the opposition’s accusation of fraud, which, contrary to the official result, claims that Maduro was defeated in the presidential election by a wide margin.