A former defense minister and critic of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on Friday after being convicted of embezzlement and abuse of power.
Retired General Raul Baduel was sentenced to seven years, 11 months in prison by a military court and is barred from running for public office, state television reported.
Baduel was tried on charges that 40 million bolivars — then worth US$18.6 million — went missing in 2006 and 2007 while he was defense minister. Baduel has insisted he is innocent and dismissed the accusation as a politically motivated reprisal for his opposition to Chavez.
Baduel retired in July 2007 after Chavez removed him from the defense minister post and he quickly emerged as a prominent critic of the president. He publicly opposed a package of constitutional revisions proposed by Chavez that would have enshrined socialist ideals in the Constitution, but were rejected by voters in 2007.
“He was tried without any evidence,” his daughter Andreina Baduel said after the sentencing. “My father has been an honest man and he always will be.”
In the same case, Colonel Hernan Medina Marval was sentenced to eight years, 11 months in prison.
Another of Baduel’s daughters, Rayrin Baduel, told reporters that the main evidence had been the testimony of soldiers who saw Medina carrying some back packs allegedly filled with cash.
“Why didn’t they arrest him at that very moment?” she asked.
Chavez has denied going after opponents through the legal system, saying Baduel and other government critics are criminals who must face justice.
Baduel had maintained a friendship with Chavez since the president’s army days and clandestinely aided a failed 1992 coup attempt led by the then-lieutenant colonel.
The general also came to Chavez’s aid in 2002, when the president was briefly ousted in a coup.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television
RSS