In Caracas, three prosecutors from the Thirtieth Prosecutor’s Office were processed, designated to address the complaint of 90-year-old broadcaster and actress Josefa Hidalgo.
Written by: La Tabla/Data Journalism Platform 7 DEC 2015
On Friday, December 5th, the Public Ministry announced the arrest of three prosecutors from the National 30th Prosecutor’s Office, specializing in housing restitution, just six days after they were commissioned by Attorney General Tarek William Saab to address Josefa Hidalgo’s public complaint, a 90-year-old senior citizen known for her participation in an old advertisement campaign for the MAS cleaner.
Hidalgo reported the illegal occupation of her property by third parties for over eight years.
The 30th Prosecutor’s Office is part of an institutional program that has been working for three years to recover rental properties owned by senior citizens.
Prosecutor Lenyn Puello, head of the office, along with his two assistants, Deide Cabezas and Sabelle Sosa, were charged with intentional delay or omission of duties and conspiracy.
According to a note published by the MP on social media, these officials requested a sum of money from a citizen to unlink him from an investigation they were conducting.
The coincidence between the special assignment (to handle broadcaster Josefa Hidalgo’s case) and the capture of the officials for alleged corruption — although without official details regarding the specific charge — raises serious doubts about the misuse of authority within this program.
The case of an eviction in Barquisimeto
On the same day, Johanna Elyouri, who served as the ninth prosecutor of Lara state, was also arrested for attempting to arbitrarily evict residents in the El Ujano sector of Barquisimeto. Elyouri allegedly committed insubordination and abuse of authority by ignoring official circulars that mandate strict adherence to the Constitution and hierarchical coordination within prosecutorial offices.
The simultaneity of these proceedings reveals a concerning convergence of irregularities in prosecutorial offices linked to the housing restitution program.