A Venezuelan court has sentenced two former US special forces soldiers to 20 years in prison for their part in a blunder-filled beach attack aimed at overthrowing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Lawyers for the former Green Berets, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, said that they were barred from the secretive jailhouse proceedings on Friday night in what they consider a violation of their constitutional rights to a defense.
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced the surprise decision late on Friday night.
Photo: Reuters
“THEY ADMITTED THEIR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE FACTS,” he wrote on Twitter, adding that proceedings would continue against dozens of other defendants accused of assisting in the May 3 raid.
He did not offer details.
“Operation Gideon” was launched from makeshift training camps in neighboring Colombia and left at least eight rebel soldiers dead, while more than 60 more were jailed.
Ex-Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, who operated a Florida-based security firm called Silvercorp USA, claimed responsibility for the failed attack and said he had hired his two former army buddies to prepare a small cadre of deserting Venezuelan soldiers living at the makeshift camps.
Venezuelan prosecutors have ordered his arrest.
Goudreau is believed to be in the US, where he is also under investigation for possibly contravening arms trafficking laws in connection with the botched incursion.
Denman and Berry, both decorated former US service members, were found guilty of conspiracy, trafficking in illegal arms and terrorism, Saab said.
However, lawyers for the men said that the hearing was marred by irregularities.
Alonso Medina Roa said that he was hired a month ago by the families of the two Americans, but has so far been barred from meeting or speaking with his clients.
In violation of their constitutional rights to a defense, he said, Judge Maximo Marquez never informed him of Friday night’s proceedings at the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service headquarters, where the men are being held.
They were represented instead by a public defender.
The two Americans arrested in a coastal fishing community have ever since been paraded by officials on Venezuelan state TV as proof of their long-held claims that the US is set on violently overthrowing Maduro’s socialist government.
The incident also prompted claims that US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido, president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, had authorized Goudreau through a signed agreement to carry out the attack, executed by two of Guaido’s former political advisers in the US.
US officials have denied any role in the attack, but have not said what knowledge they had about the clandestine camps in Colombia.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Washington would use all possible means to win the freedom of Denman and Berry.
Mark Denman, brother of Luke Denman, said in a statement that the families were “very disappointed” that the men were not represented by their private legal counsel.
“With the trial behind us, we are now focused on assuring that during their detainment their rights are adhered to. This includes humane treatment, access to adequate medical care, communication with their families and attorneys,” he said.
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