Feb 25 (Reuters) – Venezuela Attorney General Tarek Saab and the country’s ombudsman have tendered their resignations to the National Assembly, the assembly’s secretary said on Wednesday.
Saab, 63, held his role for nearly nine years after being appointed in 2017, presiding over the government’s response to several major corruption scandals as well as the arrests of some well-known opposition figures and protesters who human rights groups say were unjustly detained.
Heavily tattooed and a published poet, Saab has always denied that the government holds political prisoners, telling Reuters this month he hopes an amnesty law later passed by the legislature will ensure a “100% pacified” country.
“I call them prisoners, I don’t give anything any additional label,” Saab told Reuters this month. “They are detainees for actions that at the time were documented.”
The assertions were a repeat of ones he made to Reuters in 2024, before thousands were arrested for participating in protests amid a contested presidential election.
Saab did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Wednesday.
“The National Assembly received communications addressed to lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez Gomez, president of this legislature, signed by: first, citizen Tarek William Saab, by which he submits his resignation from the post of Attorney General of the Republic; and second, citizen Alfredo Ruiz Angulo, by which he submits his resignation from the post of Ombudsman,” said assembly secretary Maria Alejandra Hernandez.
Lawmakers will choose interim officials for each role while permanent replacements are chosen, Rodriguez, brother of acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, said.
(Reporting by Reuters)
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