Caracas, Venezuela, May 17, 2019 / 23:00 pm
The Venezuelan bishops' conference has expressed opposition to a decision of the country's Supreme Court, which has requested that legislative immunity be revoked for members of the National Assembly accused of treason, conspiracy, instigation of insurrection, civil rebellion and other charges. That would open the way for legislators to be tried for those alleged crimes.
"With this request, the will of the Venezuelan people, who freely elected the National Assembly is, in fact, abolished," the bishops charged in a May 15 statement.
They also said that Supreme Court requests on the matter "constitute disrespect and a transgression of the commitments enacted with the different international bodies on human rights."
"The denial of immunity without previously determining its merits and ignoring the rights of the National Assembly, contravening the express constitutional provisions, gravely harms the functioning of democracy," the bishops added.