Simonovis: Isaías Rodríguez and the Judicial Terrorists

Without a doubt, the most recognized accomplishment of Mr. Isaías Rodríguez during his tenure as Attorney General of the Republic of Venezuela was having recovered from the "Republics" [Venezuela's era of military dictatorships - trans.] an entire persecutory system of unmasked political nature, from which he learned very well. As a good student of these rulers of past decades, he has used methods which stand out for their lack of discretion: he has brazenly tampered with evidence, he has distorted the truth, such as the context which events took place, he has used public defamation to support himself in power and indiscriminately used some state media, and, as if this were not enough, he developed a Machiavellian methodology of intimidation of judges and prosecutors - to the extent the twisted mind of Mr. Isaías Rodríguez drove him to distort the fundamental values that should be the pillars of his management, forgetting that his duty should be the guarantor of legality of a democratic country. Instead, it has turned him into the guarantor of the legalization of illegitimate prosecutions, which will guarantee the permanence in power of macabre and criminal individuals, who only work toward their projects and personal interests.

A clear example is that of the so-called Llaguno Bridge shooters, these people whom on the 11th of April, 2002, shot at various fellow citizens at close range and were completely acquitted. These gunmen, who were captured on camera and whose images were beamed across the world. It's all a great pride for you, is it not?

Mr. Isaías Rodríguez, in our case you have manipulated evidence, changed stories, distorted witness testimonies, and using your broad political power, intimidated and manipulated judges and prosecutors to persecute, disparage, and imprison many Venezuelans, without neglecting to mention that in September of 2005 you convoked a hearing with my lawyer and wife Maria del Pilar de Simonovis and informed them that you knew I was innocent and that you had made it known to the current Attorney General of Venezuela and the prosecutor of my case at the time, Mrs. Luisa Ortega Díaz. I am one of your victims.

Let's talk about the Prosecutor Danilo Anderson. Let's remember what was taking up the majority of your time around the moment in which he was murdered. Perhaps you find this an uncomfortable case? There are secrets being whispered. This case is the height of violations to a clean judicial process: the only witness that you would defend ends up testifying before the media that you and your team of sordid prosecutors manipulated him to twist the truth in order to incriminate journalists, bankers, businessmen, and police officers, and culminating with a sentence of more than 25 years for three innocent Venezuelans.

It is so shameful what you have involved yourself in that the witness in question, fearful before the law of God and life itself, asked for forgiveness from those who are totally unjustly prosecuted. The former prosecutor Hernando Contreras has acted in the same way, who also formed part of this terrible team which you built. If you have problems of temporary amnesia, it is sufficient to see these statements in the web page www.vigilante.com.

There is more with you Mr. Isaías Rodríguez. You incarcerated a businessman and a banker, in the famous "Microstar Case," and after two and a half years, once again the truth is escaping you and the case is being proven as a complete farce. The prosecutor in the Anderson Case publicly stated that you had framed up a case against the banker Eligio Cedeño, because for you it was a point of honor. And another prosecutor, Benigno Rojas, who had participated directly in the case, likewise state this in the magazine Exceso, Issue #231 of August, 2009, where he explained how he had participated in the frame up of a case which never existed.

Mr. Isaías Rodríguez, in counting up the honors of your work history, another detail stands out in this magical realism which surrounds the political history of this Chávez-ified Venezuela. It is well known by many that once your period of being Attorney General was defeated, they had to appoint a successor. To find someone who had no sense of justice, who was furthermore capable of prolonging your legacy of misery and persecutions, there's nobody better than family. That is to say, Luisa Ortega Díaz. Or is it that you neither recall your family ties to the current Attorney General? This guarantees that you can keep a lid on the rotten pot of cases "adjusted to the interests of the Chavista regime." And just look at how the señora measures up.

The truth is infinite and winding, but always makes itself known when it is most needed, but when we least expect it to arrive. But it is enough to read world history: do you remember the Nurenberg trials? The justice reached them.

Mr. Isaías Rodrígez, perhaps this public letter raises problems for me with some type of punishment, such as new abuses and threats against my family. Thanks to you I have now spent more than 43,000 hours behind bars in a minimal cell, without natural light nor air, I see the sun only once every two weeks and even my right to health is routinely rejected. I have spent five years watching my human rights walked all over by under the mocking of the judicial terrorists who accompanied you in this macabre revenge against me and the other police officers. There have been many Christmases, birthdays, vacations, school graduations, and every type of family activity that I have lost sharing with my children and wife. These days will never come back, I did not live them, and this is thanks to your twisted manipulation of the law and the truth.

But I must let you know something, Mr. Isaías Rodríguez. My lawyers have taken on an action to denounce this gigantic violation of my human rights, of my personal safety, of the Venezuelan law and of the respect of the country, that you and your band of judicial terrorists have committed. Please know that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the European Parliament, Amnesty International, the Commission of Human Rights of MERCOSUR, and many other international organizations, we have mentioned your name along with our complaints. You must explain to the world how you went from being the Attorney General of the nation to becoming a criminal.

Mr. Isaías Rodríguez, have you visited a church recently? Have you been able to confess? Have you communicated with God?

Mr. Isaías Rodríguez, do NOT be afraid. I can see the faces of my children and wife without feeling shame. I have put up with and will continue putting up with this vile punishment which I have been subjected to, because my dignity is unwavering, because my dignity has no price, and because I am not afraid. I have not separated families, I have not persecuted the innocent, I have not manipulated the law, and I have not played with the justice system. I can, despite so many limitations and with this unjust death sentence, sleep soundly with my conscience.

Can you, Dr. Isaías Rodríguez?

Iván Simonovis
Political Prisoner