Venezuelan senior lawmaker calls on pardoned prisoners to renounce violence

CARACAS, June 2 (Xinhua) -- A top Venezuelan lawmaker on Saturday called on pardoned prisoners to renounce violence and commit to peaceful means in political protests.

Delcy Rodriguez, who is both the president of Venezuela's National Constituent Assembly (ANC) and head of the truth commission that reviewed the prisoners' cases, made the remarks while addressing the second group of 40 inmates pardoned for their violent acts in mass political gatherings.

The first group of 39 prisoners serving jail terms for politically-motivated violent crimes were released on Friday.

"We need you to express commitment and willingness to permanently renounce political violence, to permanently renounce hate and intolerance," Rodriguez said.

"We Venezuelans need to settle our differences through peaceful, democratic and constitutional means," she added.

The prisoners had been tried and convicted following a wave of violent anti-government protests in the past few years that left scores dead and hundreds injured.

Rodriguez mentioned one particularly tragic incident in which a supporter of the government was burnt alive.

Venezuela saw weeks of violent anti-government protests since April 2017 after the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) announced the decision to set up a constitutional assembly, which the opposition claimed was a scheme to marginalize the opposition-controlled parliament.

Violent clashes during these protests killed scores of people and injured more, and resulted in the imprisonment of many.

Sworn in for a second term in May, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro proposed a pardon for political protesters serving jail sentences for violence.

One of the top priorities for his second term is to promote dialogue and reconciliation between the ruling party and its political opponents.Enditem