Lopez awaits ruling

Lopez

Maduro Jailed opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez angrily denounced Venezuela’s government on Saturday at an appeals hearing that his supporters are hopeful will overturn a nearly 14year sentence for inciting violence.

A decision is expected within 10 days, according to Lopez’s party, although government officials have yet to comment.

Tension hung over the marathon proceedings, which ended after 2 a.m. local time, as dozens of Lopez supporters gathered outside the court house to demand his freedom as police in riot gear looked on warily. Inside the courtroom, Lopez angrily denied encouraging the use of violence during a wave of deadly anti-government protests in 2014 even while blasting President Nicolas Maduro.

“I’m innocent of the crimes for which I’ve been charged,” Lopez said at the trial, according to an audio recording released by his political party. But “I take responsibility for having denounced the Venezuelans government as corrupt, inefficient, anti-democratic and repressive.”

The conviction of Lopez, a Harvard-educated former mayor, has been widely condemned as a sham trial by foreign governments including the US. (AP)