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Emirlendris Benítez

1981

Nationality
Venezuela
Occupation
merchant

Emirlendris Carolina Benítez Rosales (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan merchant who has been described as a political prisoner.

Incarceration history

Biography

Emirlendris Carolina Benítez Rosales (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan merchant who has been described as a political prisoner. In 2018, while pregnant, she was detained and accused of involvement in the attempt on the life of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. According to her family and human rights organisations, she has been subjected to torture during detention to the extent of suffering a miscarriage, and her pretrial detention has exceeded the three-year maximum established by Venezuelan law. The non-governmental organisation Foro Penal has classified Benítez as a political prisoner, and in 2022 the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations (UN) called for her immediate release, having concluded that her detention is arbitrary.