Attorney General Office asks up to 16 years in prison for Súmate director

The seventh trial court headed by justice Elías Álvarez adjourned for February 14th a hearing against directors of NGO Súmate.

Defense lawyers reported that the Attorney General Office asked to send María Corina Machado to jail for up to 16 years. The official may be detained during the next hearing.

Also, the Attorney General Office asked the judge a bench warrant for Machado and Alejandro Plaz, as well as a measure superseding freedom for Ricardo Estévez.

Defense lawyer Juan Martín Echeverría Jr. fears that his clients may be detained during the next hearing.

He claimed that one of the most serious things during the hearing Tuesday is that defendants were not allowed to speak.

He argued that both the Constitution and laws and regulations set forth that defendants can speak at any time. "Surprisingly, at the beginning of the trial, the judge told us that defendants could speak at any time if they wished so. When they expressed their desire to intervene, he adjourned the hearing."

Echeverría denounced again illegitimacy of a one-person court with no jury members.

María Corina Machado and Alejandro Plaz are charged with alleged conspiracy to destroy the republican political shape of the nation, under article 132, Criminal Code.

Luis Enrique Palacios and Ricardo Estévez face trial for presumed abetment.

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IISS: The FARC financed Chávez before 1999

10:07 AM. DIPLOMACY. Admired by the Colombian guerrilla after his coup attempt in 1992, the then lieutenant colonel Hugo Chávez Frías received financial support by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) for his projects after his capture that year. This mostly explains the relationship and "debt" between the parties, as revealed by a paper of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) of the United Kingdom.