1. Lorent Enrique Gomez Saleh was born on 22 July 1988 and is a prominent Venezuelan opposition activist and president of the Operacion Libertad civil-rights group.
14 Facts About Lorent Saleh
1. 2.
Lorent Saleh was deported after Colombian authorities said he had been involved in political work that violated the terms of his visa.
3.
Gabriel Valles, who was working alongside Lorent Saleh, held a press conference about Lorent Saleh's arrest the following day, and was himself detained and deported to Venezuela.
4.
In 2017, Lorent Saleh was one of eight Venezuelans awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament as a representative of all Venezuelan political prisoners documented by the human rights organisation Foro Penal.
5.
In 2009, Lorent Saleh cofounded an organisation in opposition to the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
6.
On 2 May 2011, members of the Bolivarian National Guard fired shots at some demonstrators and evicted several youths, including Lorent Saleh, who had chained themselves to the gates of the Judicial Circuit of Barinas to demand the release of Delfin Parra Gomez, a military man who was processed.
7.
Lorent Saleh was severely beaten and detained, and as a result of the event, judicial proceedings were opened for the alleged crimes of resistance to authority, basic type injuries and violent outrage against a public official.
8.
Lorent Saleh was beaten by military personnel while participating in a protest at the University of the Andes.
9.
In February 2014, Lorent Saleh began an international campaign to denounce human rights violations during the 2014 Venezuelan protests.
10.
In several television interventions, pro-government leaders accused Lorent Saleh of having links with Colombian paramilitaries and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, and of planning coup and terrorist activities in Venezuela, but these accusations are not included in his court file.
11.
On 20 April 2015, Lorent Saleh tried to commit suicide in his cell, which was stopped by SEBIN officials.
12.
Lorent Saleh's lawyer denounced that by then he had not received a response from the Public Ministry about the request for psychiatric evaluations of Saleh and Gabriel Valles.
13.
In 2017, Lorent Saleh was one of eight Venezuelans awarded the Sakharov Prize, along with other detainees considered political prisoners by the European Parliament.
14.
On 12 October 2018, Lorent Saleh was released due to "suicidal behavior" and immediately forced to leave Venezuela.