The Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab, said that regarding his third anniversary as the head of criminal prosecutions in the country, during his tenure at the head of the Public Ministry, 158,426 accusations have been filed against people involved in criminal acts. From the headquarters of the Public Ministry in Caracas, Saab detailed that in 3 years, 1,203,255 cases of different types have been admitted, which reflects the confidence that the population has acquired in the actions of the institution, adding that during that period 2,337,321 actions were carried out, 527,231 conclusive acts were presented and convictions were obtained against 56,735 people.
He indicated that the fight against corruption has been one of the banners of the office that guarantees legality since he began his period as the body’s highest authority. “If there is something that has characterized our administration, it has been the fight against corruption in all its forms, starting at home. In these 3 years we have investigated more than 200 officials of the Public Ministry, of which 173 are prosecuted for irregular actions and the commission of crimes in the exercise of their functions. It is something unprecedented,” stressed the Attorney General.
Similarly, he recalled that “21 corruption schemes in the oil industry have been uncovered, for which 103 officials of Petróleos de Venezuela and its subsidiaries are prosecuted, including 28 senior managers.”
In total, the Attorney General said, 10,299 indictments and 3,028 accusations have been made for crimes of corruption, resulting in a total of 1,741 people convicted so far.
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Human rights
Regarding the defense of human rights, the senior official stressed that “in these 3 years we have presented charges against 584 alleged perpetrators, (…) 925 have been accused of the crimes of homicide, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, illegitimate deprivation of liberty, violations of domicile, among others. A conviction has been reached against 140 of those involved.”
He added that the actions of the Public Ministry were “something that, sooner or later, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations, Mrs. Michelle Bachelet, would recognize.”
He rejected propaganda laboratories and Western powers intend use of this issue to delegitimize the Venezuelan state and its institutions.
Gender violence
On the subject, Saab revealed “we have presented 11,036 accusations in cases of violence against women and a total of 1,778 people have been convicted.” In turn, the Attorney General contrasted these numbers with the situation in other countries in the region, where he considered that “violence against women has become a trend.”
Extortion and kidnapping
With respect to extortion and kidnapping, the head of criminal prosecution said that in three years of uninterrupted work “a total of 1,546 accusations have been presented, and 337 convictions have been obtained.”
Institutional transformation
As part of his third anniversary as Attorney General of the Republic, Saab extended his congratulations to all the personnel who work in the institution, especially to its general directors, line directors, coordinators, workers and administrative personnel.
“We permanently find opportunities to renew and purify an institution that, we must remember, was led by the previous administration to moral ruin, academic piracy, absolute banality and impunity in the fight against crime, organized crime, human rights, of extreme complicity with the corrupt and drug trafficking,” recalled the top authority of the Public Ministry.
In this sense, he considered that the administration had been dedicated for a decade “to implosion, it used corruption cases to extort money from businessmen, merchants and public officials, even having law firms at the service of whomever, in bad times, was the Attorney General of the republic” Saab said, referring to Luisa Ortega Diaz.
“In addition, it pretended during the months of April, May, June and July of the year 2017, to be the legal arm of a coup, an embryo of civil war that occurred in Venezuela where the conspirators, murderers and those who were never prosecuted for what they attempted against the peace of the republic.”
Prevention and care
Finally, he referred to the health work for the benefit of the Public Ministry workers, who have not interrupted their work despite the global pandemic caused by Covid-19.
“Our Medical Service implemented, at the entrance to the different offices of the Public Ministry, taking temperatures using infrared thermometers, as well as spraying alcohol on the hands prior to entry,” said Saab. They had the support of Civil Protection to carry out disinfection days in the main headquarters of the institution in Caracas and the interior of the country.
He stressed that “a screening session was held for the officials who are on duty in the city of Caracas, obtaining a total of 4 positive cases and 446 negative cases.” In turn, “screening days was also carried out in 9 states of the interior, obtaining 5 positive cases. In each positive case, the necessary measures were taken for their isolation and treatment,” added the highest authority of the Public Ministry.
Featured image: Courtesy of the Attorney General office.
Translation: OT/JRE/EF
