Under Article 241 of the Criminal Code of Venezuela, slander (oral defamation) against a public official is punishable with imprisonment from eighteen (18) months to five (5) years.
Under Articles 223 and 226 of the Criminal Code of Venezuela, whoever, by word or by deed, offends the honor, dignity, reputation of any public official, shall be punishable by imprisonment ranging from three (3) months to two (2) years.
Article 108 of the said Code summarizes the Statute of Limitations for the filing of criminal actions
In Venezuela, a criminal defamation case has been reported by Article IX as “not only outmoded and unduly harsh, they are also unnecessary and disproportionate measures to protect reputation of others.”
Even the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) previously declared that, “Venezuela’s defamation laws are out of step with the regional consensus that civil remedies provide adequate redress in defamation cases.”PREVIOUSBACK TO INT’L DEFAMATION DATABASE HOMENEXT