By Ingrid Bachmann
The prosecutor's office believes it has sufficient evidence to charge Guillermo Zuloaga, president of the news station Globovisión, the only channel critical of the government still on the air in Venezuela, reported El Universal.
Zuloaga is accused of usury and the prosecutor has sought the extradition of Zuloaga and his son, who also is implicated in the case, added the Associated Press. The prosecutor's office presumes that Zuloaga has fled the country.
The prosecutor said the crime of usury can be punished with between one and three years in prison and financial conspiracy (harming third parties) between two and fice years, explained ANSA.
According to El Tiempo, Zuloaga's defense has denounced various problems in the case, such as the prosecutor's refusal to give access to the case file, so he said he was unaware on what basis the charges were filed.
Update: The Venezuelan government also issued a call for the capture of Nelson Mezerhane, Globovisión stockholder and owner of a bank taken over by the authorities.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
