Security officials detained labor lawyer and human rights defender Edwin Sambrano Vidal this Sunday, April 12, at the Santo Domingo airport, Táchira state, when he was preparing to travel to Caracas.
Sambrano, former constituent of 1999, leader of the Alliance for Sovereignty and Democracy and a native of Ciudad Guayana, faced accusations of terrorism and incitement to hatred, according to the order allegedly issued by the Third Terrorism Court.
The authorities transferred him first to the CICPC of San Cristóbal and then to the courts for presentation. His wife, Teresa Sandoval, immediately denounced the arrest through social networks and described it as arbitrary.
Human rights organizations and activists demanded his release. Hours later, on Sunday night, a court released him under precautionary measures, including a ban on leaving the country and a periodic reporting regime.
Sambrano has a history of persecution for his union and political activity in the state of Bolívar. This case adds to the recurring complaints of arbitrary arrests against human rights defenders in Venezuela.
Edwin Sambrano Vidal, born in Ciudad Bolívar in 1953 and resident in Ciudad Guayana (Bolívar state), is a renowned lawyer who graduated from the Andrés Bello Catholic University, specializing in labor and constitutional law.
He was a member of the National Constituent Assembly of 1999, deputy of the National Congress and founder of the Guayana Workers’ House. He currently directs the Alliance for Sovereignty and Democracy (ASD) and has decades of experience as a worker defender and human rights activist in the Guayana region.
The authorities detained him under an order allegedly issued by the Third Terrorism Court. They accused him of the crimes of terrorism and incitement to hatred. Sambrano, who spent almost two years (since 2024) in hiding due to previous political persecutions, decided to rejoin public activity and was heading to Caracas when the incident occurred.
