Journalist and lawyer Braulio Jatar was charged with money laundering on Monday after he reported on the Caracas protest in Venezuela. Jatar covered the protest on Report Confidencial [website]. The protest was one of the largest in recent history [CFR report], as thousands gathered to demand a recall referendum on President Nicolás Maduro. Before the September 1 protest, Venezuelan authorities denied entry to at least six journalists [CPJ press release]. Police allege [AP report] they found Jatar with a suitcase full of cash and Jatar was jailed following the charge.

The rights of opposition leaders in Venezuela raise significant international conern. In August Venezuelan authorities arrested major opposition leader Daniel Ceballos [JURIST report] stating that the arrest was to prevent his efforts at destabilizing the country. Earlier in August a Venezuelan appeals court in Caracas upheld the more than 13-year sentence [JURIST report] of another opposition leader, Leopoldo López. In March Venezuela’s National Assembly approved [JURIST report] an amnesty law that would free 77 individuals allegedly jailed for political reasons under a number of crimes, including López, but Maduro vowed to veto the law. In November UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein called for [JURIST report] the protection of political opposition leaders associated with an assassinated Venezuelan opposition leader. In October, a former Caracas prosecutor confessed [JURIST report] to being pressured into presenting false evidence to condemn opposition leader López.