Conditional parole issued to Eligio Cedeño
Friday, December 11, 2009:
On Tuesday, 8 December, control court 31 of Metropolitan Caracas held the preliminary hearing process against Eligio Cedeño. This hearing was postponed at the request of prosecutors, who proposed that he not attend the hearing.
Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni agreed to reconvene the hearing for Thursday December 10. At the time of the hearing, representatives from the prosecutor's office still did not come to court and conform to the rules, so the Judge Afiuni convened those who were present in court: the Defence attorneys, Eligio Cedeño and lawyers representing the Attorney General's Office, to move into the Trial Chamber in the Justice Department.
With the process initiated, the judicial officer recognised the absence of the prosecutor's office and then gave the right to speak to the Attorney General's representatives, who declined it.
In granting the right to speak to the defence attorneys of Eligio Cedeño, the attorneys requested the revision and replacement of the custodial measure against Cedeño, who has been detained for nearly 3 years without trial or sentence, a proxy measure, because of disinterest and carelessness of the prosecutor's office, who failed to appear for a second time at the request of the court, without justification or adequate reasons.
The defence attorneys argued to the judge that given the disproportionate and arbitrary extension of the judicial deprivation of liberty for Eligio Cedeño for a period longer than two years under the criminal procedure code, along with the overwhelming opinion of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, the attorneys recommended that Eligio Cedeño be tried in freed, given the arbitrary extension of his captivity.
After hearing the proposals, Judge Afiuni expressed her thoughts, recognising the "lack of interest" in streamlining and applying due process by the prosecutor's office, who was responsible for excessively prolonging Cedeño's detention without any convictions. The judge ruled that the danger of obstructing the investigation had been changed given that the investigation was complete so such a danger no longer existed.
The judge further ruled that Eligio Cedeño must appear in court every 15 days and is prohibited from leaving the country, warning that absence and failure to comply with the restrictions would drive the judge herself to look "under rocks" if necessary, agreeing to the immediate release of Eligio Cedeño and ordering the bailiwick to accompany him to the gates of the Justice Department.
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