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Prosecutor in case of Venezuelan leader apologizes for "sham trial"
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/venezuelan-prosecutor-sorry-for-sham-trial-of-opposition-leader-leopoldo-lopez/?ref=yfpCARACAS, Venezuela -- A Venezuelan prosecutor who helped convict opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez is saying that the government had long plotted Lopez's arrest.
Prosecutor Franklin Nieves, who reportedly is now seeking asylum in the United States, said in a video posted Monday on the Venezuelan news website La Patilla that superiors in the prosecutor's office had given him orders to have Lopez arrested days before the Caracas protest -- and the alleged crime -- took place.
Nieves said orders went out to arrest Lopez at an earlier scheduled protest, but Lopez did not appear so the plan was dropped.
Nieves fled Venezuela and apologized last week for his role in what he called a sham trial. Lopez was convicted in September of inciting violence during a 2014 anti-government protest in Caracas and received the maximum sentence, about 14 years. Lopez insisted that he never called for violence, but prosecutors argued that violence was implicit in his calls for the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro.
