Feb 4 (Reuters) – Twenty-two more prisoners have been released in Venezuela, the country’s top legal rights group said on Wednesday, as liberations promised by the interim government slowly continue.
Legal rights organization Foro Penal said earlier in the day that 350 people who it classes as political prisoners had been freed since Jan. 8, when the government announced the effort. In the afternoon, Foro Penal said that it had confirmed 22 more releases, including of the journalist Rory Branker.
Government officials – who deny holding political prisoners and say those jailed have committed crimes – have given a much higher figure of releases, of nearly 900, but have not been clear about the timeline and appear to be including releases from previous years in their count. The government has never provided an official list of how many prisoners will be released nor who they are.
Families of prisoners say the releases have progressed too slowly, and Foro Penal says nearly 700 political prisoners remain jailed, an updated count including prisoners whose fearful families had not previously reported their detentions.
(Reporting by Reuters)
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