Venezuela releasing jailed opposition leader to house arrest

A Venezuelan court on Tuesday agreed to move to house arrest opposition leader Daniel Ceballos, who has been imprisoned for more than a year.

Venezuelan authorities removed Ceballos as mayor during anti-government demonstrations last year in San Cristobal that helped ignite nationwide protests in which dozens were killed.

Patricia Ceballos wife of opposition leader Daniel Ceballos cries as she speaks to the media outside of her apartment in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, August 11, 2015. He suffered from kidney and stomach problems during a 20-day hunger strike in June, according to his supporters.

Releasing Ceballos to house arrest allows the administration of President Nicolas Maduro to make a goodwill gesture to the worldwide community, and may have the added benefit of taking away some of the opposition leader’s power as a symbol of injustice.

His attorney, Juan Carlos Gutierrez, announced Tuesday that prosecutors had given permission for Ceballos to be released to his home while awaiting trial. A short video of Baduel embracing loved ones was tweeted by his daughter after he was discharged from a prison where he’s been held alongside Venezuela’s most-recognized jailed opponent, Leopoldo Lopez.

Mr Ceballos was arrested in March 2014 and sentenced to 12 months in prison by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice for his failure to follow an order to stop anti-government protesters from erecting barricades in the streets of San Cristobal.

Ceballos, whose trial is ongoing, won the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition’s primaries in May to run for a seat in upcoming December. 6 parliamentary elections.

The election date has now been set, and a handful of prisoners have been freed, but none before as well-known as Baduel or Ceballos. But elections officials later barred him from holding public office.

U.S. officials have called for both men’s release.