A bishop has been released from prison in Venezuela after five years.
Bishop Dr Jylman Red Jurado Farfan was charged with terrorism and conspiracy in 2021.
The charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said he’d been summoned under false pretences and was charged with terrorism, criminal association and conspiracy, due to the authorities’ accusation that his social ministry work was an attempt to destabilise the State.
CSW said the judicial process against Bishop Jurado was marred by serious irregularities, including the withholding of his case file for nearly ten months, and the suspension of his trial after almost two years of hearings without any conclusive evidence being presented. In June 2026 the bishop reported to CSW that he was suffering from serious health concerns.
Jesus Marcano, Advocacy Coordinator for the Venezuelan human rights organisation Foro Penal, confirmed to CSW that Bishop Jurado was among 81 prisoners released on 14 August. He said Bishop Jurado said he had been tortured while in detention describing how “they pulled out his toenails and how they opened a burn wound on his chest with electricity”.
Bishop Jurado told CSW that he was grateful to fellow Christians for “the feeling and the desire that God placed in your hearts so that this liberation would be possible.
“We know that freedom is a precious gift that comes from the presence of the Lord, which is why I have learned from within, during five years and fifteen days, that every morning He showed His mercy, and everything that has breath praises the God of justice”.
CSW’s Director of Advocacy and Americas Team Leader, Anna Lee Stangl said while she welcomed the bishop’s release, “he should never have been imprisoned in the first place. We strongly condemn the torture he experienced and the failure of those in authority to ensure he was provided adequate treatment for his medical conditions. Now that he is free, we wish him a full recovery from this ordeal. The Venezuelan government must cease its harassment of religious leaders and others whose only crime is peacefully supporting their communities as they feel called to do”.