01/09/2017 (Agence Europe) – In a press release published on Friday 1 September, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) strongly criticised “the kidnapping” of the Mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, as well as that of the former Mayor of Chacao, Leopoldo López. The two politicians were arrested by the Venezuelan authorities at the end of July (see EUROPE 11843). Patrick Klugman, the deputy-mayor of Paris and special envoy for human rights at the CEMR, described this situation as “inadmissible” and called on the Venezuelan authorities to release the two men. The CEMR points out that this is not the first time that the Venezuelan authorities have been involved in this kind of thing: in 2015, several local opposition members were also arbitrarily apprehended. (PH)