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Ahead Of Elections, Venezuelan Journalists Accused Of 'Extortion'
By AFP - Agence France Presse
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Venezuelan journalists became the latest group Tuesday to get caught in the crosshairs of the government ahead of July presidential elections from which the favorite and other rivals have been sidelined.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab, a loyalist of President Nicolas Maduro, claimed at a press conference that journalists had been part of a criminal "structure" financed by an ex-petroleum minister arrested in April in a corruption investigation.
The minister, Tareck El Aissami, "had at his service a media extortion structure," said Saab, alleging it was used to "attack state authorities."
The journalists named, including some from investigative site ArmandoInfo, have rejected the accusations. Several are in exile abroad for their own safety after revealing alleged government corruption.
Saab claimed journalists have been demanding bribes to soften or kill negative articles against El Aissami, his right-hand man Samark Lopez, and state oil company PDVSA.
"Nothing is more absurd or improbable. We have written dozens of articles about Lopez, El Aissami and the irregularities at PDVSA," said Edwald Scharfenberg, editor-in-chief of ArmandoInfo and one of the people named by Saab.
"This is a criminalization of the work we have been doing for years," said another, Roberto Deniz.
Last week, a rights group and UN experts denounced what they called an alarming rise in "persecution" in the South American country ahead of elections on July 28.
Maduro, accused of locking up dissenters and abusing state institutions to sideline political challengers, will seek a third six-year term.
His main rival, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, has been barred from seeking election by courts loyal to Maduro, and several opposition activists have been arrested in recent weeks.
The Foro Penal NGO said Tuesday there were 273 "confirmed political prisoners" in Venezuela, more than half of whom have not been sentenced for any crime.
Ahead Of Elections, Venezuelan Journalists Accused Of 'Extortion'
Venezuelan journalists became the latest group Tuesday to get caught in the crosshairs of the government ahead of July presidential elections from which the favorite and other rivals have been sidelined.
