Venezuelan political prisoner Gabriel Medina Díaz dies for lack of medical treatment

The NGO Foro Penal de Venezuela confirmed this Sunday the death of Gabriel Medina Díaz, 39, one of the so-called “political prisoners” in Venezuela, after suffering a respiratory arrest due to “the lack of medical care. he needed”., according to the organization’s vice president, Gonzalo Himiob.

“Confirmed the death of Gabriel Medina Díaz, who was confined in the annex ‘Nelson Mándela’ of ‘La Pica’ in (state of) Monagas (east),” Himiob wrote on Twitter, who previously posted another message. that the cause of death was linked “to the lack of medical care he needed”.

The director of the NGO indicated that Medina Díaz was transferred to the emergency room at Manuel Núñez Tovar hospital on Saturday, “due to pressure from his cell mates”, where he died of respiratory arrest..

According to Foro Penal, Gabriel Medina Díaz had been in preventive detention “without conviction” since April 24, 2020 and, according to Alfredo Romero, president of the NGO, “he had been in a serious state of health for more than a month without medical care. . . “

For her part, the Member of the National Assembly, Olivia Lozano, condemned the death and blamed the regime of Nicolás Maduro.

Lozano, president of the Foreign Policy Commission of the Venezuelan Parliament, assured that “political prisoners of the Maduro regime die violating their human rights and failing to respect due process”.

“How many political prisoners have yet to die under the yoke of a criminal regime which, violating human rights and denying due process, imprisons those who think differently?” Asked the parliamentarian.

Lozano demanded the release of all political prisoners and reiterated that cases brought before the International Criminal Court must continue to advance for justice to be done.

Opposition denounces that Nicolás Maduro’s regime denied him medical treatment for a month. And he points out that the ninth political prisoner who has died in dictatorship custody since 2014.

Medina was arrested in 2020 along with eight other people accused of planning an alleged kidnapping of Diosdado Cabello, vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). However, the evidence of the case has not been presented.

The victim was accused of the crimes of treason, organization of armed forces and arms trafficking, among others.

Last Tuesday, the NGO Foro Penal denounced that in Venezuela, there are 276 detainees whom they consider to be “political prisoners”, 23 less than in its last report, published on July 13.

The organization added on its Twitter account that, of the total reported detainees, 260 are men and 16 are women. Among those arrested, there are 147 civilians and 129 soldiers.

They also reported that among the detainees there was a teenager.

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, reported on his Twitter account that he certifies this list of prisoners of the Caribbean nation published by the NGO.

On May 21, the Penal Forum – which heads the defense of people considered to be political prisoners in Venezuela – asked to avoid using these detainees as “negotiating pieces” after the announcement of a dialogue with the regime that the opposition led by Juan Guaidó.

(With information from EFE)

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