CARACAS, Venezuela – The Venezuelan Supreme Court sentenced Ramón Muchacho, the mayor of the Caraca's district of Chacao, to 15 months in prison for defying an order to allow the removal of protesters' barricades.
The 44-year-old attorney, who is an Emory University MBA graduate, released a statement on Twitter saying that he was being punished for allowing civilians to exercise their legitimate right to protest.
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"The next hours will be difficult for me, and my communication will be severely limited," Muchacho said in a statement in Spanish. "I am grateful for your messages of support and solidarity, and I ask you to pray for my family."
Muchacho is the fourth mayor that was sentenced to prison and removed for supporting the Venezuelan dissent against President Nicolas Maduro.
Muchacho's sentencing comes a few days after the country's new legislative body took power and voted to replace the country's Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz and attack Maduro's opposition.
According to Transparency International 39 of 77 mayors asking that Maduro step down faced government persecution and threats since 2013.
Lilian Tintori, a democratic activist who is married to jailed right-wing opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, repudiated "the persecution and attack" of Muchacho on Twitter.
"We are with you, with your family and your neighbors in Chacao," Tintori tweeted.