By Julia Symmes Cobb and Vivian Sequera
CARACAS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Venezuela's attorney general Tarek Saab said on Wednesday he hopes an amnesty law being considered by the national assembly legislature will ensure a "100% pacified" country where the crimes included in the bill are never repeated, as he insisted that those in prison are not political detainees.
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who took power last month after the U.S. ouster of President Nicolas Maduro, has bowed to Trump administration
demands on oil sales and released hundreds of who human rights groups class as political prisoners, as part of a normalization in relations between the two countries that has also included an ongoing visit by the U.S. energy secretary.
A complete version of the amnesty law has not yet been read in full in the legislature, headed by Rodriguez's brother Jorge Rodriguez, though it has passed an initial vote. The assembly will meet on Thursday but it is not yet clear whether the bill will be on the agenda.
The current version of the law is significantly less generous than a previous draft. It no longer lists the crimes which count as political actions - including instigation of illegal activity, resistance to authorities, rebellion, treason - which were previously laid out in detail, does not give amnesty to those accused of defamation for criticizing authorities or lift Interpol red notices.
The current draft also does not return assets of those detained, revoke public office bans given for political reasons or cancel sanctions against media outlets, as the previous draft would have.
Saab told Reuters in an interview he hoped the bill would result in “a 100% pacified country that understands...that there can no longer be a repetition of any of the actions or crimes that led to this amnesty law, that it must never happen again."
“I don’t think there can be anything anymore that tarnishes the spirit of peace and reconciliation that Venezuela deserves," said Saab, adding he anticipates the law will be approved in the coming days.
(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb and Vivian Sequera in Caracas)
