Venezuela: Crowd gather for Leopoldo Lopez court hearing in Caracas

February 19, 2014 | By hromedia | Reply More

Feb 19, Caracas – Leopoldo Lopez, of the opposition Popular Will party, was arrested on Tuesday on charges of inciting violence. Supporters of detained opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez have started gathering ahead of his court hearing in Caracas.

He handed himself over to police during a rally he had called to protest against the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

The hearing is expected to take place later at the Palace of Justice.

‘Unjust detention’

Mr Lopez spent the night in a military prison after being detained on Tuesday.

The authorities had issued an arrest warrant for Mr Lopez last week on charges of inciting violence after three people were shot in anti-government protests.

After briefly disappearing from the public eye, on Sunday Mr Lopez posted a video message calling on his supporters to join him in a mass rally on Tuesday, during which he would hand himself in to the security forces.

After giving an impassioned speech standing in front of a statue of Cuban independence hero Jose Marti, Mr Lopez, clutching a white flower, walked up to a line of National Guardsmen and turned himself in.

Tens of thousands of his supporters watched as he was driven away in an armoured vehicle.

Press journalist for HRO media – Norberto Lluch contributed to this report.