Panama Ambassador urges OAS to gain a sense of Judge Afiuni's case

Panamanian Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) Guillermo Cochez raised his voice on Wednesday during a session of the body over Venezuelan former Judge María Lourdes Afiuni's accounts of sexual abuse during her detention at the National Institute for Female Guidance (INOF). Her story came out recently in a book entitled Afiuni: La presa del Comandante (Afiuni: The Pray of the Commander) written by Francisco Olivares, the head of the section of Investigative Journalism of daily newspaper El Universal.

During the OAS's session, the Panamanian ambassador urged the members of the organization to get familiar with the situation that Afiuni is going through. "The time is now," Cochez said. 

During his intervention, the ambassador explained he does not intend "to determine the truth about the facts surrounding Afiuni's imprisonment. However, in view of the statements expressed in UN reports, as well as those from organizations from civil society, and a wide sector of Venezuela, our duty is to call for information on the case."

Meanwhile, Afiuni's trial began on Wednesday. International observer Claudio Morer Jiménez and some representatives from Canada and the EU were present. Afiuni refused to appear in court, yet a recent amendment to the Organic Code on Criminal Procedure allows trial hearings in the absence of the defendant.

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