A group of Venezuelan prisoners are holding 207 visiting relatives hostage in a jail in protest against judicial delays and maltreatment by police, authorities said Monday.
The prisoners in Los Andes jail in the Venezuelan state of Merida captured the relatives as visiting time was ending on Sunday, said Liseth Blanco, director of the Los Andes Judicial Reclusion Center.
Among the hostages are 21 children and 150 women. About 300 people were detained at the beginning, but some 100 were released during the night.
The inmates are demanding to see government authorities, including Interior and Justice Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, said Blanco.
"It is a pressure action from the indicted and non-indicted to call attention to their situation," a Merida government official said.
Negotiations with the prisoners have begun, he added.
Source:Xinhua
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