A Venezuelan bishop has been released after five years in prison, during which he was allegedly tortured.
Bishop Dr Jylman Red Jurado Farfán was arrested on 30 July 2021 and charged with terrorism, criminal association and conspiracy. The authorities accused him of attempting to destabilise the state.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) alleges that the legal process against Bishop Jurado Farfán was “marred by serious irregularities”. It is alleged that the bishop’s case file was withheld for almost 10 months and his trial was suspended following two years of hearings, during which no conclusive evidence of his supposed crimes was presented.
Concerns for the welfare of the bishop were heightened earlier this year in June, when he told CSW of serious health concerns including atypical pneumonia, intercostal neuritis, and both upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding.
Now, however, the bishop has been released, along with 80 other prisoners set free on 14 August. Bishop Jurado Farfán claimed that during his five year ordeal he was subject to torture. His toenails were allegedly pulled out and a burn wound on his chest opened with electricity.
Speaking to CSW, Bishop Jurado Farfán said, “My beloved brothers and sisters in the unity of the body of Christ, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, my fraternal hugs; and I bless God for the feeling and the desire that God placed in your hearts so that this liberation would be possible, where the Lord broke the chains of oppression, of fear, of torture, and gave us [physical] freedom.
"We know that freedom is a precious gift that comes from the presence of the Lord, which is why I have learned from within, during five years and fifteen days, that every morning He showed His mercy, and everything that has breath praises the God of justice.”
CSW’s Director of Advocacy and Americas Team Leader Anna Lee Stangl, welcomed his release while saying that "he should never have been imprisoned in the first place".
"We strongly condemn the torture he experienced and the failure of those in authority to ensure he was provided adequate treatment for his medical conditions," she said.
"Now that he is free, we wish him a full recovery from this ordeal. The Venezuelan government must cease its harassment of religious leaders and others whose only crime is peacefully supporting their communities as they feel called to do.”
