Unions and NGOs demand justice and freedom for detained journalists

Guilds and NGOs of Venezuela This Saturday they demanded justice and freedom for journalists detained -most of them arrested after the presidential elections on July 28- within the framework of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2013.

Through X, the NGO Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (Ipys) -which counts 12 journalists currently detained- He stated that in Venezuela, where “repression and censorship are daily,” it is “vital to demand justice.”

«From Ipys Venezuela we demand concrete actions to eradicate impunity. “Crimes against the press not only attack journalists, but also our right to be informed,” the NGO stated.

For its part, the union National College of Journalists (CNP) demanded in X that the authorities “fully release” the “arbitrarily” detained journalists, since -he maintained- “informing is not a crime.”

On the same social network, the non-governmental organization Espacio Público demanded justice for journalists, who “are victims of arbitrary arrests, harassment, persecution and direct threats” after the presidential elections.

This year, 14 journalists have been detained, according to Ipys, in an “arbitrary” manner, nine of them after the presidential elections, when protests broke out against the official result that gave Nicolás Maduro’s re-election, a victory that the largest opposition coalition calls a “fraudulent”.

On October 18, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) warned about the increase in attacks on press workers in Venezuela in the context of the presidential elections and said that the Government “continues to overshadow the few remaining vestiges of freedom of expression.” press and expression”, which has turned journalism into “a high-risk profession” in the country.

Last August, the CNP warned of the “brutal and systematic escalation of repression” against journalists, photojournalists and photographers, as well as against any citizen who “dares to disagree with the official narrative regarding the results of the elections.”