Venezuelan gov't at odds with ex police chief's release

Without making direct reference to the humanitarian measure pursued by the relatives of the inspector of former Technical Judicial Police (PTJ), nowadays Scientific, Criminal and Forensic Investigation Agency (Cicpc), Venezuelan Vice-President Nicolás Maduro strongly recommended against "impunity" and required all the weight of the law to fall on "the criminals" involved in the coup of April 2002.

"As a government, we continue asking for justice (...) All the weight of law should fall on those criminals. There should be no impunity for those crimes and those criminals. There should be no impunity." These words were uttered by Maduro after a meeting on Thursday by midday with the Association of Victims of April 11 and its attorney Amado Molina at the Vice-President Office.

Last Wednesday, Ivana Simonovis, the daughter of the ex-secretary of Citizen's Security with the Metropolitan Major Mayoralty, forwarded a letter to Maduro, asking the government for her father's release for health reasons. According to relatives, Iván Simonovis suffers from severe osteoporosis.

Anyhow, almost at 6:00 p.m., while voicing respect for Simonovis' daughter and wife, as "it is not their fault," blamed the inspector for using them. "They should not try manipulation by making innocent people cover the crimes perpetrated by people who worked for the CIA for years."