Jailed Chavez opponent freed after 7 months, plans run for legislative office in Venezuela

Jailed government opponent freed in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela — An opponent of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was freed by a court Tuesday after spending more than seven months in jail while awaiting trial for allegedly injuring a police officer during a protest.

Caracas city administrator Richard Blanco, who insists he is innocent and says the charges are politically motivated, announced outside the courthouse that he plans to start campaigning as a candidate for the National Assembly in Sept. 26 elections.

Blanco was freed on condition that he appear in court every 15 days, that he not leave Venezuela without the judge’s permission and that he not speak to the media about his case ahead of his trial, defense lawyer Negar Granados said.

Prosecutors did not immediately comment.

Granados said the judge did not bar Blanco from holding public office so he will be able to return to work as city administrator for Caracas’ anti-Chavez mayor, Antonio Ledezma.

“My faith in God is unbreakable,” Blanco told reporters.

Blanco, who also leads an opposition party, called for “all of us to unite in Venezuela from this moment on.”

He was jailed in August after participating in an opposition protest that ended in clashes with police. Prosecutors charged him with injuring a police officer and inciting crime. The opposition has rallied around him as a “political prisoner” since he was jailed in Yare prison outside Caracas.

Blanco was released as Chavez’s government faces international criticism over recent criminal cases against government opponents and the owner of an anti-Chavez TV channel. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have condemned what they call the use of Venezuela’s judiciary by Chavez’s government to intimidate opponents.

Venezuelan authorities insist the charges against Blanco and other government opponents are legitimate.