By Bianile Rivas.
The minister of Prison Services in Venezuela, Iris Varela, gave conditional release to 179 prisoners in the Llanos Occidentales Prison, located in Portuguesa state. The same jail where 46 inmates were killed and 67 injured last May 1st in a riot.
Unofficially, at least eight buses loaded with prisoners left the Cepello jail. Families complain that the transfers and releases were a secret.
You must read 47 inmates died in an alleged confrontation in a Venezuelan prison
The benefits were granted to inmates who spent the night in the Cepello administrative area, either because of family abandonment, economic insolvency to cancel housing rights or some other reasons.
On May 8, eight days after the bloody riot, the Cepello authorities counted 2,154 inmates in the precinct: 1,083 processed and 1,071 convicted.
Since Wednesday 13 May, the Cepello premises have been occupied by the National Guard and Ministry of Penitentiary Services personnel.
