Luisa Ortega Díaz

Luisa Ortega Díaz
Luisa Marvelia Ortega Díaz
Prosecutor General of Venezuela
In office
13 December 2007 – 5 August 2017
Preceded by Julián Isaías Rodríguez Diaz
Succeeded by Tarek William Saab
Personal details
Born (1958-01-11) 11 January 1958
Valle de la Pascua, Guárico, Venezuela
Residence Bogotá, Colombia
Alma mater University of Carabobo
Profession Lawyer
Website luisaortegadiaz.com

Luisa Marvelia Ortega Díaz (born 11 January 1958) is a Venezuelan lawyer. Between December 2007 and August 2017, she served as the Prosecutor General of Venezuela.[1]

Early life and career

Ortega Díaz was born in Valle de la Pascua, in Guárico State, on 11 January 1958.

She was educated at the University of Carabobo, in Carabobo, graduating in law. She then chose to specialize in criminal law and in procedural law and moved to Caracas. She studied criminal law at the Universidad Santa María and procedural law at Andrés Bello Catholic University, both in the capital.

Ortega later became a law professor at the Universidad Santa María and still holds the title. She also served as a legal consultant to the state TV channel, Venezolana de Televisión.

Prosecutor General

In April 2002, Ortega joined the public prosecution service, in the Ministerio Público.[2]

On 13 December 2007, she was appointed Prosecutor General, the office often being translated by its equivalent of Attorney General. She was appointed by the parliament, or National Assembly, for a six-year period from 2008. In December 2014, on completion of the 2008-14 term, she received authorization for a second term, from 2015-21.

Despite having been appointed under the government of Hugo Chávez, Ortega was conspicuous in refusing to extend blanket support for the regime of his successor Nicolas Maduro.

Ortega denounced the rupture of democracy in Venezuela when the Venezuelan Supreme Court, in a move broadly, both nationally and internationally, considered a power grab, assumed powers constitutionally attributed to the National Assembly.[3] The move was seen as a betrayal by the Maduro government[4] and resulted in subsequent accusations by the Maduro government and the Venezuelan Supreme Court.

On 29 June 2017, the Supreme Court barred her from leaving the country and froze her assets, due to alleged "serious misconduct" in office.[5]

She was dismissed as Prosecutor General by the newly established National Constitutional Assembly on 5 August 2017.[6][7]

Later life

Tarek William Saab, the replacement Chief Prosecutor appointed by the Constituent Assembly, announced on 16 August 2017 that former Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Díaz and her husband, German Ferrer, operated an extortion group and a day later, the Constituent Assembly ordered for their arrest with the couple fleeing to Colombia.[8]

Ortega and Ferrer fled from Venezuela by speedboat to Aruba and flew into Colombia, with Ortega stating that the Maduro government would "deprive me of my life".[9]

Maduro has said he is seeking an international arrest warrant both her and her husband claiming they had been involved in serious crimes.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ (www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. "Venezuela constitutional assembly fires chief prosecutor - News - DW - 05.08.2017". DW.COM.
  2. ↑ "Fiscal General de la República – Curriculum". Ministerio Público. Archived from the original on 24 June 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  3. ↑ "Venezuelas top prosecutor Luisa Ortega rebukes Supreme Court power grab". The Globe and Mail. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  4. ↑ "Venezuela government turns on traitor prosecutor Ortega". Reuters. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  5. ↑ "Venezuela's Attorney General Barred From Leaving Country". Voice of America. 29 June 2017.
  6. ↑ "Venezuela constitutional assembly fires chief prosecutor". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  7. ↑ "Venezuela's Ousted Attorney General Retreats on a Motorbike". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  8. ↑ "Luisa Ortega 'fearing for her life' flees to Colombia". Al Jazeera. 19 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  9. ↑ "Deposed Venezuelan prosecutor Luisa Ortega flees country in dramatic speedboat journey". The Daily Telegraph. 19 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Venezuela seeks arrest warrant for prosecutor". BBC News. Retrieved 23 August 2017.


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