Venezuelan president urges supreme court to review legality of Amnesty Law

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to review the legality of the Amnesty Law passed by the opposition-controlled National Assembly, the country's unicameral legislature.

Maduro believed the controversial law, designed to pardon opposition political leaders serving prison terms and passed on March 31, was unconstitutional.

"This law must be sent to where it must be interpreted ... I have decided to send it to the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, so it can declare this document unconstitutional," Maduro told demonstrators protesting the new law here.

Thousands of government supporters on Thursday marched against what they called the "law of impunity," with some carrying banners that read "Amnesia Law," instead of "Amnesty Law."

The law is an "aberration" that aims to pardon those who have committed crimes of corruption or violence, said Maduro.

Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez was convicted of inciting violence during anti-government demonstrations in 2014 that left more than 40 people dead, and sentenced to 13 years in jail. His supporters say he was imprisoned for his political campaign against the government.

In a recent interview with Mexican daily La Jornada, Rodrigo Cabezas, former finance minister and a prominent member of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, said Lopez "is not a political prisoner, he is a politician who is in prison for absolutely illegal, undemocratic actions that caused deaths." Endi