Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez has been released from prison and placed under house arrest, according to a statement his wife made on Twitter.
In a translated tweet, Lopez's wife Lilian Tintori posted, "They just brought Leopoldo to the house. We continue with more conviction and strength than ever to bring peace and freedom to Venezuela!"
Lopez was released from prison on July 8 and placed under house arrest after serving three years of a 13-year sentence on charges of inciting violence at opposition rallies. Many human rights groups considered him a political prisoner.
But he was taken back into custody last Tuesday along with former Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma in what many believed was a renewed crackdown on the opposition following the election of delegates to the constitutional assembly.
Some saw his return home as a sign Venezuelan officials may be rethinking the crackdown, even as the new, all-powerful constitutional assembly ousted the defiant chief prosecutor.
Cries of "traitor" and "justice" erupted as the 545 pro-government delegates voted Saturday unanimously to remove Luisa Ortega from her post as the nation's top law enforcement official and replace her with a staunch government supporter.
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They said they were acting in response to a ruling by the government-stacked Supreme Court, which banned Ortega from leaving the country and froze her bank accounts while it weighs criminal charges against her for alleged irregularities.
Ortega, a longtime loyalist who broke with the socialist government in April, refused to recognize the decision and vowed to continue defending the rights of Venezuelans from Maduro's "coup" against the constitution "with my last breath."
"This is just a tiny example of what's coming for everyone that dares to oppose this totalitarian form of government," Ortega said in the statement she signed as chief prosecutor. "If they're doing this to the chief prosecutor, imagine the helpless state all Venezuelans live in."
