The former Venezuelan judge María Lourdes Afiuni regained her full freedom this Saturday following the definitive closure of her case, bringing to an end over 16 years of judicial persecution that made her one of the most recognized symbols of the destruction of judicial independence in Venezuela under Chavismo.
The news was celebrated by the opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, who shared her reaction on platform X with a direct message: "Finally… After 16 long and torturous years of injustices, LIBERTY for María Lourdes Afiuni!! We pray for her recovery and hope she can leave the country as soon as possible for immediate care. We continue the fight for the freedom of ALL, until the end."
The case dates back to December 10, 2009, when Afiuni ordered the release on bail of banker Eligio Cedeño, who had been in pre-trial detention for over three years, exceeding the legal limit allowed.
The next day, then-president Hugo Chávez denounced her on national television, calling her a "bandit" and demanded that she be sentenced to 30 years in prison. She was arrested that same day by intelligence agents, which earned her the nickname "Chávez's personal prisoner."
For years, her legal situation changed while the persecution persisted: she moved from prison to house arrest in 2011, received parole in 2013, and was sentenced in March 2019 to five years for a charge that her defenders referred to as "spiritual corruption," with the prosecution itself acknowledging that there was no financial gain on her part.
In July 2019, she was released along with 21 other people —among them journalist Braulio Jatar and 20 students— following a direct intervention by the then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, with Nicolás Maduro.
However, that parole included severe restrictions: a ban on speaking to the press or on social media, voting prohibitions, political disqualification, and passport denial, conditions that remained in effect until this Saturday.
The notification of the permanent closure arrived while Afiuni remains hospitalized in a clinic, after experiencing a condition of dizziness, vomiting, and hypertension on Thursday, and having been found with three tumor lesions in different parts of her body that require immediate medical attention.
His brother Nelson Afiuni and the legal representative of the family, Thelma Fernández, issued a statement in which they described the decision as "the end of a long and painful chapter marked by serious violations of human rights and due process," although they warned that "the definitive closure of this case does not erase the suffering experienced nor does it, by itself, repair the harms caused."
Afiuni's freedom is part of the broader process of political prisoner releases occurring in Venezuela since Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces in January 2026, and coincides with the democratic transition negotiations taking place between the government of interim president Delcy Rodríguez and opposition sectors, with support from the United States.
The family statement concluded with a warning that goes beyond this individual case: "The case of Judge María Lourdes Afiuni remains a cautionary example for the entire region about the consequences of using the justice system as a tool of retribution against those who carry out their duties with independence and impartiality."
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