ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan (left) and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (right) shake hands in Miraflores Palace, Caracas. Photo: Presidential Press.
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, signed the second Memorandum of Understanding between Venezuela and the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on June 9.
During the signing ceremony held in Caracas on Friday, President Maduro explained that Venezuela has its doors open for all authorities who wish to know the reality of the human rights situation in the country, and thus dismantle the anti-Venezuela media campaign promoted by extremist sectors.
“Venezuela is open, with doors open to the world, for those who want to know the truth. In Venezuela we are defenders of the truth,” the Venezuelan president said.
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“Venezuela is a country where we have proposed to build a different state, a state where people are the protagonists of their own development, their rights, and we work for the people,” he added.
On Thursday, June 8, the Venezuelan president held a meeting with the ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, who is in Venezuela on an official visit. In the meeting, the progress achieved after implementing the first memorandum of understanding signed with the ICC was reviewed.
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ICC office in Venezuela
During the meeting, President Maduro referred to the technical office of the ICC that will open this year in Venezuela. He said that the collaboration of the ICC will help strengthen the Venezuelan justice system with the training of prosecutors.
“This office will have a favorable impact within the framework of the complementarity of the Rome Statute, and the necessary changes in the national justice system, for the training of prosecutors, and to bring the experience of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office to Venezuela’s modest experience,” the president added.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan highlighted the meetings held in the last two days with several Venezuelan government authorities. He highlighted the work began in 2021 with the signing of the first memorandum of understanding, and in 2022 with the agreement to open an office in Venezuela.
Khan explained that with the ICC office, “we can help Venezuela with training and technical assistance, for the sake of the people of Venezuela.”
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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