On October 22, the judge of the Criminal Court of Trial No. 05 of the state of Mérida, José Gerardo Pérez Rodríguez, issued a sentence on the case of the murder of Wuilderman Paredes Moreno, committed during an armed attack by officials of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) against people queuing for fuel in Los Llanitos de Trabay, Santos Marquina Municipality, on June 8, 2019. Luis and Gerardo Paredes, the victim’s cousins, were also injured in the incident. The latter suffered serious injuries and was able to identify his assailants during the trial, who were acquitted nonetheless.
Of the six police officers arrested for the incident, only Luis Gerardo Vargas was found guilty of the murder of Wuilderman Paredes and sentenced to 18 years in prison. The other five officers were acquitted: Juan Bautista Cordero Freites, Freddy Bladimir Rodríguez, Daniel Antonio Vivas Albornoz, Junior Enrique Valero Ortega, and Erica del Carmen Peña Sánchez. Although Gerardo and Luis Paredes identified Cordero and Rodríguez as their aggressors during the trial, the judge expressed in his sentencing not to have evidence against them.
“For justice to be served, they have had to kill me. But what they did to me spoiled my life, I can no longer do my job due to the injuries because I work as a heavy machinery operator. I feel mocked, ”Gerardo Paredes told the press team of the Universidad de Los Andes Observatory on Human Rights (ODH-ULA) on October 23, when he went to the Criminal Judicial Circuit to sign the final act of the trial.
PNB Chief acquitted
Besides being charged for qualified homicide with futile motives against Wuilderman Paredes, qualified frustrated homicide with futile motives against Gerardo Paredes, and cruel treatment against Luis Paredes, Juan Bautista Cordero Freites was the chief of the PNB in Mérida during the time of the events and gave the order to shoot, according to the victims’ recounts.
The ODH-ULA denounces that the decision to acquit Juan Cordero constitutes a regrettable precedent in the Venezuelan justice system as it favors impunity against the disproportionate use of force against unarmed civilians ordered by this chief commissioner, in violation of international treaties and national legislation.
Violations of due process and the principle of equality of the parties
From the first moments of the incident, the judicial process has been plagued with irregularities that have been repeatedly denounced by the ODH-ULA. The start of the trial was postponed three times and the court did not issue the due summons to the victims, preventing them from appointing legal representation in time. Likewise, after the trial was suspended for more than seven months due to the COVID-19 quarantine, the final hearings were affected by the violation of due process.
On October 19, the judge delayed the start of the hearing for more than two hours, which began after he ordered the legal representative of the victims and member of the ODH-ULA legal team, lawyer Iván Toro, to leave the room, alleging the need to comply with social distancing as a preventive measure against COVID-19. However, the judge did allow the presence of the relatives of all the accused, violating the legal principle of equality of the parties.
In addition to these irregularities, the judge did not admit the appeal for protection and reparation to the victims by extension for the murder of Wuilderman Paredes, for the benefit of his mother María Leonora Moreno, his partner Zulibeth Dugarte, and a baby less than two years old, the only child of the deceased. Likewise, to date, the state has not compensated Gerardo Paredes, whose injuries merited multiple surgeries and treatments.
Prosecutor filed an appeal
Following the judge’s ruling, the appointed national prosecutor for this case, María Ginette Córdova, requested a suspension of the trial through an appeal against the judgments issued on officers Cordero, Rodríguez, and Vargas. This action transfers the judgment of the trial to the Court of Appeals, which must review whether the provisions of the Organic Code of Criminal Procedure (COPP) were complied with, in order to ratify or not the judge’s decision.
The appeal must be delivered to the Court of Appeals together with a substantiation of the sentence prepared by the judge, which has not yet been issued. If the Court of Appeals does not uphold the judge’s decision, the trial must be reconsidered. Meanwhile, all the accused will remain in detention.
Intimidation after the end of the trial
Gerardo Paredes told the ODH-ULA that on October 22, as he was arriving in his home after the conclusion of the trial, two uniformed officers of the Merida State Police on board a motorcycle stopped in front of his home, and the female police officer who was a passenger told her male colleague: “Yes, it is here.” Gerardo’s wife, who witnessed the incident, told her husband that she was afraid of reprisals from the officers after they are released from detention following the sentencing. Their three underage children live with the couple.
In addition to this act of intimidation, on October 23, the head of security of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of the state of Mérida, who identified himself as José Alfredo Alpino, asked the ODH-ULA press team to delete some photographs they had taken of the facade of the compound when they were outside the building. The journalistic team refused the official’s request, claiming that taking such photos was not prohibited in any law of the country.
The ODH-ULA demands that the Venezuelan State take all necessary actions to avoid impunity in this case, to guarantee the promotion of truth, justice, reparation to the victims, and guarantees of non-repetition, established by the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.
Translated by José Rafael Medina
