Washington, August 29 (RHC)-- U.S. activists in solidarity with Venezuela have issued a news release, detailing information on the four who were arrested by U.S. authorities in May at Venezuela's embassy in Washington, DC.
The press release says: "The newly formed Embassy Protectors Defense Committee created in response to the arrest and bogus charges leveled by the Trump Administration against the last four remaining activists of the Embassy Protective Collective that occupied the Venezuela Embassy for 37 days, has launched an international campaign to demand that the Trump administration drop all Federal charges against the protectors.
"The last remaining four Embassy Protectors — Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, David Paul and Adrienne Pine — were arrested in the Washington D.C. Embassy of Venezuela on May 16, 2019 having occupied the Venezuelan Embassy with as many as 100 other activists with the permission of the Venezuelan government over the course of those 37 days.
"The Embassy Protection Collective was welcomed into the Venezuelan Embassy in order to prevent it from being illegally taken by the unelected regime of Juan Guaidó that was being imposed on the Venezuelan people by the Trump Administration.
"The Four are now facing misdemeanor charges of “Interfering with certain protective functions” of the Federal government that carries a maximum of one-year imprisonment and $100,000 fine for each of them. The United States Government is intent on making example of these citizens and is using its unlimited resources to make sure that they are penalized and incarcerated.
"The Embassy Protectors Defense Committee, made up of a collection of human rights defenders, international law experts, journalists, labor activists, anti-war and social justice advocates, is involved in raising resources to help cover the enormous expenses of defending against the bogus charge and the outrageous fines that the government appears intent on imposing if the charges are not dropped and the case proceeds to trial.
"This is a politicized case initiated by an administration that is unrestrained by accepted international law and recognized state relations as part of the international order established over last seven decades.
"The Embassy Defense Committee is circulating a petition and launching a massive international campaign to have all charges dropped and to compel the Trump Administration to reenter the community of law-abiding states. For more information please visit: https://DefendEmbassyProtectors.org.