A/HRC/45/CRP.11 680. The SEBIN officers took Mr. Marrero to SEBIN El Helicoide. 1337 Roberto Marrero was detained in a 2 x 2 metres cell with no window or ventilation. He spent the first month in solitary confinement and was detained incommunicado until 13 May 2019, when he was allowed to contact both his relatives and lawyers. Mr. Marrero briefly met the lawyers in Court during the hearings.1338 681. Mr. Marrero’s lawyer explained that he was permitted to visits his client on a weekly basis, as per normal visiting rules, apparently of orders from above. 1339 When lawyers and relatives were allowed to meet with Mr. Marrero, the visits often took place away from the main visiting room, in a separate secluded space that the lawyers assumed was bugged. 1340 682. High-level Goivernment respresentatives made a series of statements in the days following Mr. Marrero’s arrest and detention. On 21 March 2019, Interior Minister Néstor Reverol said that Mr. Marrero was part of a terrorist cell. 1341 On the same day, President Maduro spoke of dismantling a terrorist group including Mr. Marrero. 1342 Two days later, Jorge Rodríguez Gómez, Vice-President of Communications, Culture and Tourism and Minister of Information and Communication used press conference to refer to those arrested as a group of terrorists.1343 The Judicial Process 683. On 23 March 2019, Mr. Marrero appeared before the Thirty-Sixth Court of Control for his initial appearance. The court declared that it did not have jurisdiction on terrorismrelated offences and transmitted the case to the First Court of Control on Terrorism-Related Crimes.1344 684. On 25 and 26 March 2019, the initial appearance hearing was adjourned due to a national electricity shutdown. The hearing took place on 28 March 2019, a week after Mr. Marrero’s arrest.1345 Judge Carol Padilla decided that charges of conspiracy, concealment of weapons of war and explosives, money laundering and association to commit a crime 1346 against Mr. Marrero could proceed. The judge did not accept the prosecutors’ request to 1337 1338 1339 1340 1341 1342 1343 1344 1345 1346 148 conversó con César Miguel Rondón sobre el poder de Maduro y su círculo, la tortura en el Sebin y su papel (y el de otros funcionarios aún en el gobierno) en la Operación Libertad, 11 July 2019, minute 6:30, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjtuUlQpNoI&feature=youtu.be. According to information received from the lawyer, Luis Paez Salazar, Mr. Marrero’s driver, was detained with him and charged with the crime of concealement of conspiracy. He is currently under house arrest even if was never formally accused. Two days after lawyer Juan Planchart was also detained as he was considered to be linked to the same alleged conspiracy. Mission interview with Joel Garcia, Mr. Marrero’s lawyer on 1 May 2020. Ibid. Interviews with lawyers and relatives on 1 and 8 May 2020, respectively. YouTube Video, VIVO play, Reverol sobre Marrero: “Es responsable directo de la organización de estos grupos criminales,” 21 March 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svr9viZ4S3o Youtube Video, Lapatilla Patillavideo, Lo que dijo Maduro sobre la detención de Roberto Marrero, 21 March 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwR-Qyf1Yf0 Mr. Rodriguez Gomez also showed images of conversations from the mobile phone of Marrero, reportedly with the agreement of the Attorney General. See YouTube Video, Luigino Bracci Roa, Rueda de prensa de Jorge Rodríguez sobre Roberto Marrero y paramilitares, 23 March 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf7iNRpNkxA According to the information received from lawyer Joel Garcia, even though there are four courts of control that have jurisdiction for terrorism-related offences, two of them receive the vast majority of the cases involving political opponents, i.e. those led by Judges Carol Padilla and Hilda Villanueva, reportedly both very loyal and close to the Government. See information provided by the Government to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, A/HRC/WGAD/2019/75, paras. 43 to 47. This is in contravention with article 44 of the Constitution and 236 of the Criminal Procedure Code providing that a person deprived of liberty should appear before a judicial authority not beyond 48 hours after the detention. Crimes foreseen and sanctioned in articles 132 of the Criminal Code and 35, 37 and 38 of the Organic Law against Organized Crime and Financing of Terrorism (Ley Orgánica contra la Delincuencia Organizada y Financiamiento al Terrorismo)