Ex-police official, suffering from cancer, freed from prison after Chavez’s call for clemency

[Judi Lynn]

Ex-police official, suffering from cancer, freed from prison after Chavez’s call for clemency
By Associated Press, Published: July 21

CARACAS, Venezuela — A former deputy police chief was freed Thursday after spending nearly seven years in prison, following President Hugo Chavez’s call for clemency for prisoners with health problems.

Former deputy Caracas police chief Lazaro Forero had been serving a 30-year prison sentence for complicity in the killings of pro-government demonstrators during protests in 2002.

He has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and Supreme Court president Luisa Estella Morales said he was freed on parole for humanitarian reasons. Forero’s release followed that of another government opponent, Alejandro Pena Esclusa, who also needs cancer treatment.

Chavez on Saturday urged the courts and prosecutors to allow parole or house arrest for inmates with serious ailments. He made the appeal shortly before traveling to Cuba for his own cancer treatment and after prisoners’ relative urged the president to intervene.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/ex-police-official-suffering-from-cancer-freed-from-prison-after-chavezs-call-for-clemency/2011/07/21/gIQAVkjUSI_story.html?wprss=rss_world