Complaint filed against Zapatero for crimes in Venezuela
A group of Venezuelan opposition members living in Spain filed a complaint in the National Court against the former president of the government Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero for crimes against humanity, torture and moral integrity, which are included in articles 607 bis and 174 to 177, respectively, of the Penal Code.
As has been confirmed The Debate, the writing has fallen to the magistrate Ismael Moreno -head of the Central Court of Instruction Number 2 and in charge of investigating the PSOE case- who is now studying the complaint to determine whether admits it for processing.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Ricardo E. Miraclehas told this newspaper that this legal action is the first one brought by “natural persons” without “intermediaries.”
He also stressed that they are individuals who have suffered “threats and torture” by the government of Nicolas Maduroand who “have had to flee” the country.
Consequently, the complaint against Zapatero is filed by “the victims themselves”, who consider that the former head of the Spanish Executive has “whitewashed” the Bolivarian regime and that he is ““participant in crimes against the Venezuelan people”.
The document states that “although Mr. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero presents himself in 2014, that is, 10 years ago, in the international context as a mediator between the government, or rather, between the ruling elite of the Bolivarian regime and the opposition, which is true, as has recently been reported by the Spanish executive and, also, although implicitly, has been referred to by the former president of the government, Mr. Felipe Gonzalez Marquezin both cases, in statements to the media, acts as an individual as lobbyist of the Bolivarian regime in the international context.”
«On many occasions, Mr. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has been photographed, displaying a state of immeasurable satisfaction, in the company of Mr. Nicolás Maduro Moros, to whom, as previously stated, the US authorities attribute the status of the person most responsible for the known criminal organization as the ‘Cartel of the Suns’, the complaint claims.
Rodríguez Zapatero with President Maduro during his visit to Venezuela. Photo: EFE/Miraflores Press
At the procedural level, the National Court is competent to prosecute Zapatero for his actions in Venezuela, pursuant to what is stated in article 23 of the Organic Law of the Judiciary: “The Spanish jurisdiction shall have jurisdiction over the crimes that have been committed out of the national territory, provided that those criminally responsible were Spanish.”
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