UPDATE - Venezuela sets free 116 prisoners in new wave of release

ADDS DETAILS, CHANGES DECK

By Yasin Gungor

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Venezuelan Penitentiary Services Ministry announced on Monday that 116 individuals have been released as a result of coordinated efforts.

"These measures have benefited individuals deprived of their liberty for acts related to disrupting the constitutional order and threatening the stability of the nation," it said in a statement.

This adds to the 187 similar measures granted during December, the ministry added.

The ministry said that this policy began during captured President Nicolas Maduro's term and continues under interim President Delcy Rodriguez's administration “within the framework of a policy oriented towards justice, dialogue, and the preservation of peace.”

“This review process will be maintained permanently and continuously, always in strict adherence to current legislation,” it added.

The identities and nationalities of most of those released are not known immediately, but Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced on Monday that Italian citizens who had been detained in Venezuela for some time had been released as a result of diplomatic efforts.

The releases came after the US carried out a Jan. 3 military operation in Venezuela, capturing Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.

US President Donald Trump had welcomed the start of Venezuela's release of political prisoners on Saturday.

After Maduro's capture by US forces, his vice president, Rodriguez, was sworn in as the country's interim president.