Monday, October 3, 2016

Venezuelan video producers headed for military court

Four video producers face trial in a military court in Venezuela, according to this report. Excerpt:
Authorities also have an arrest warrant for a fourth producer, Andrés Eloy Moreno Febres-Cordero. All four producers are being charged with offenses under the Military Code of Justice, including offending the Armed Forces and instigating rebellion. 
Julio Borges, the National Coordinator of the political party Primero Justicia declared on YouTube that every communication is signed by the party and that the detentions constitute a violation of freedom of speech and that it doesn't constitute incitement to crime in any way. In spite of this, the producers will be tried by a military court, a violation of the principle of natural justice. According to Venezuela's Criminal Justice Code, civilians cannot be tried before a military judge, except in a handful of exceptional specific cases that do not apply to the matter at hand.
"Offending the armed forces"?

Human rights jurisprudence strongly disfavors the trial of civilians in military courts.

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