My client Eligio Cedeño, who up until Dec. 10 was one of Venezuela’s most well known political prisoners, released his first statement on Christmas Day afternoon since being legally admitted and processed into his new residence in the United States.  In the statement Cedeño explains why he was forced to flee Venezuela, and the circumstances which led to his conditional release and subsequent jailing of the judge who issued the order.

Eligio’s statement is an exceptional declaration of principles, a counter-attack against all the lies and indignity he and the other political prisoners have suffered at the hands of the Hugo Chávez kleptocracy, and a call for rationalism and basic respect for rule of law.