Venezuela Top Court Says Jailed Judge and Journalist Released

(Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan courts released judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni nine years after her arrest and journalist Braulio Jatar, the country's top court said in separate posts on Twitter, without offering further details.

Afiuni, writing on Twitter around mid-day on Friday, confirmed her release, saying she would post a message when she had the official high court resolution. As of Friday evening, Afiuni had not posted that information.

National Assembly leader Juan Guaido said on Twitter that Afiuni and Jatar were released due to the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights report on Venezuela published on Thursday.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that 22 people were released on Thursday, without specifying if Afiuni or Jatar were included in that figure. “We welcome these releases and encourage the authorities to release others detained for the exercise of their human rights,” Bachelet said in a statement.

The United Nations report called on Nicolas Maduro's regime to take “immediate, concrete measures to halt and remedy the grave violations” of economic, social and civil rights.

Venezuela's government responded, saying the UN report showed bias by minimizing measures to improve people's lives and ignored official data, while failing to mention violent actions by the opposition.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jose Orozco in Mexico City at jorozco8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ney Hayashi at ncruz4@bloomberg.net, Dale Quinn

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