A/HRC/45/CRP.11 • Some detainees informed the Mission that they faced reprisals while in detention for being represented by certain organizations or lawyers. Judicial and Prosecutorial Independence 360. The investigations of the Mission reveal interference with the independence of the judiciary, hindering the right to a fair trial by an independent and impartial tribunal.823 Lack of judicial independence, particularly apparent in politically sensitive cases, has been confirmed by lawyers and former prosecutors and judges interviewed by the Mission. 361. According to a number of lawyers and former prosecutors and judges, cases should be assigned to prosecutors by superiors based on the subject matter and territorial competence and to judges based on a computerized system to order to ensure an equitable distribution of caseloads and to avoid forum shopping. Nevertheless, several of the cases analysed in this section were investigated by the same prosecutors824 and tried by the same judges,825 in what the Mission has reasonable grounds to believe is an effort to help secure certain outcomes in the proceedings.826 362. Judges and prosecutors have also said that they have been improperly pressured. 827 Franklin Nieves, public prosecutor in the case of Leopoldo López, has spoken publicly that the trial against Lopez was a sham and that he remained silent out of fear and because of the pressure exerted by his chiefs.828 He said that President Maduro and Diosdado Cabello829 give orders directly to the Attorney General about what cases to pursue, noting that the judiciary “kneels” before the executive, which “runs absolutely everything”. 830 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 with Marcelo Crovato, 22 July 2020. See NTN Venezuela, Si no hubiera escapado estaría 14 años más preso en Venezuela: Abogado Marcelo Crovato’, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mokvQhr6Ql0. See also Televisión Pública Noticias Televisión Pública Noticias, Marcelo Crovato: “Los venezolanos han perdido 15 kilos porque no hay comida”, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-yBdNjg0J4 ICCPR, art. 14 (1). Among the prosecutors that appeared involved in numerous cases documented by the Mission were: Katherine Haringhton (for instance in the case of Antonio Ledezma, Lorent Saleh and Gabriel Valles); Farik Mora and Dinora Bustamante (who acted as prosecutors in the cases of Juan Requesens, Julio Borges, Edgar Zambrano and Roberto Marrero). Katherine Harington was appointed Vice Attorney General on 4 July 2017 and was dismissed on 23 October 2018. According to the information received, she is no longer with the Public Prosecutor’s Office. See Efecto Cocuyo, Las 8 imputaciones clave de Katherine Harrington contra opositores, available at: https://efectococuyo.com/politica/las-8-imputaciones-clave-de-katherine-harrington-contraopositores/; and El Cooperante, Katherine Harrington, la sancionada por EEUU que fue vicefiscal y entró al MP en la maletera de un carro, 23 October 2018, available at: https://elcooperante.com/katherine-harrington-la-sancionada-por-eeuu-que-fue-vicefiscal-y-entro-almp-en-la-maletera-de-un-carro/. Although there were four specialised courts dealing with terrorism cases, a high number of cases were assigned to two certain judges within them, notably Carol Padilla (Case 9: Juan Requesens, Julio Borges, Case 10: Fernando Alban and Case 11: Roberto Marrero) and Hilda Villanueva (Case 3: Gilber Caro, Victor Ugas, Edgar Zambrano), of the First and Second Court of Control with competence of terrorism related crimes, respectively. See Perfil, ¿Quién es la juez Carol Padilla? La abogada encargada de condenar a la oposición, available at: https://puntodecorte.com/juez-carolpadilla/; and Carol Padilla, perfil de una jueza por encargo, available at: https://armando.info/Reportajes/Details/2593. These specialized courts were created in the course of the years by different resolutions of the Supreme Court and were not contemplated by the Law on Financing Terrorism and Organized Crime. Mission Interview with Joel Garcia in May 2020; Mission interview with C1HH04 in June 2020; and Juan Carlos Gutiérrez in July 2020. See Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Caso Apitz Barbera y otros vs. Venezuela, 5 August 2008, available at: https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_182_esp.pdf See YouTube Video, La Patilla, Entrevista completa Franklin Nieves Conclusiones 27/10/2015, 28 October 2015, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4-t6NGl1Ec. Former president of the National Assembly and then president of the National Constituent Assembly. YouTube Video, La Patilla, Entrevista completa Franklin Nieves Conclusiones 27/10/2015, 28 October 2015, minute 2:15, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4-t6NGl1Ec. 93