As part of the launch of the Great National Consultation for the Reform of Criminal Justice, President in Charge Delcy Rodríguez announced this Monday the launching of the 0-800-Extorsion (0-800-Extortion) Hotline, a strategic tool designed to optimize access to justice, to end with bad police, prosecutorial, and judicial practices, and put an end to the so-called «matraca”(extortion racket) in the country.
During her address, the President in Charge emphasized that this initiative responds to the demands of the Venezuelan people and to a historical debt owed to honest public servants: «It is not fair for honest police officers to pay for those who extort citizens, it is not fair for honest prosecutors to pay for prosecutors who take bribes from citizens, it is not fair for honest judges to pay the same price as judges who extort citizens,» stated Rodríguez.
The new platform, which will operate under the 0-800-Extorsion toll-free number, seeks to empower the citizens to contribute directly to the national justice system by allowing to denounce acts of extortion and corruption committed by public officials: “Enough is enough! The Venezuelan people demands it, and I ask for the collaboration of our country, I ask for the collaboration of the agencies involved,” she stated.
Likewise, the Head of State in Charge emphasized that this action also seeks to vindicate and make justice for all the honest police officers, judges, prosecutors, and public servants who work with a true vocation of service for Venezuela, preventing their dignity from being tarnished by the actions of a few ones:
“Enough of tarnishing the dignity of organizations and institutions that have given their all during the worst moments of political violence against Venezuela. Those who have stood up against the violence are our police officers, the members of our Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We must take care and preserve that distinction, that honor, inherited from the Liberating Army,” affirmed Rodríguez.
With the launch of the 0-800-Extorsion hotline, the national government is taking a decisive step toward building a transparent and effective judicial system oriented toward the absolute respect for human rights, within the framework of the process of reform of the criminal system that seeks to transform justice in the country.