Up to 30 years in jail for ex-MP, 16 others over alleged hit on Maduro

A Venezuelan court sentenced an opposition ex-MP and 16 others to jail terms of up to 30 years for an alleged exploding drone attack against President Nicolas Maduro in 2018.

The former lawmaker, Juan Requesens, was sentenced to eight years in jail "for the crime of conspiracy," his lawyer Joel Garcia said on Twitter after the hearing.

Sentences for the other 16 ranged from five to 30 years on charges of terrorism, criminal association, murder, treason and detonating an explosive in public.

Twelve of the accused received the highest sentence.

Sentencing came exactly four years after two drones packed with explosives flew towards Maduro as he addressed a military parade in Caracas and blew up, injuring seven soldiers.

The president claimed an attempted "assassination," and 30 people, including serving generals and Requesens, were arrested in the aftermath.

Caracas accused the government of then-Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos of being behind the attack with backing from the United States and Peru.

"These types of deeds cannot go unpunished and deserve the maximum penalty," Attorney General Tarek William Saab said, insisting the accused had received "due process."

But Gonzalo Himiob of the NGO Foro Penal, which advocates for "political prisoners," said the sentences "are aimed at supporting the false narrative of those in power of an alleged assassination attempt."

The convicted individuals "are scapegoats," he added.