June 29 (UPI) — Venezuela’s high court has frozen the assets of Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Díaz and banned her from leaving the country.
The Plenary Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, or TSJ, issued the order on Wednesday, saying a hearing will be held July 4. The TSJ said it issued the order for the “alleged commission of serious misconduct in the exercise of her office.”
“The precautionary measures agreed by the Plenary Chamber in order to guarantee the respective procedural channels consist of the following: prohibition of leaving the country of the citizen Luisa Ortega Díaz; prohibition of disposing or filing of all her assets, and a freeze all her bank accounts,” the TSJ said in a statement.
The court transferred Ortega Díaz’s powers of investigation as the head of Venezuela’s Public Ministry to Venezuelan Ombudsman Tarek William Saab.
On Thursday, Ortega Díaz said she will ignore the TSJ’s orders.
“This is a provocation against me, with dark purposes. The TSJ is repealing the Constitution and I will not allow it,” Ortega Díaz said.
Ortega Díaz was a fierce ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime but in March she criticized the TSJ after the court said it would assume the National Assembly’s duties — a ruling it later reversed. The TSJ’s ruling also led to nearly daily protests, which are ongoing.
Ortega Díaz has since criticized Venezuelan security forces over what she argues is excessive use of force against protesters. Members of the Venezuelan opposition accuse Maduro’s regime of attempting to push out Ortega Díaz from her position because she no longer faithfully aligns herself to the socialist government.
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