Venezuelan opposition groups marked the first anniversary of the arrest of lawyer and political strategist Perkins Rocha, renewing demands for his immediate release and the liberation of all political prisoners held by the government of President Nicolás Maduro. The parties Vente Venezuela and Primero Justicia said Rocha’s detention on 27 August 2024 was arbitrary and part of a wider campaign of intimidation against dissent. Rocha, who served as legal adviser to the opposition’s Comando Con Venezuela and as delegate to the National Electoral Council, has been charged with terrorism, treason and conspiracy. According to his wife, María Costanza Cipriani, the 57-year-old remains in Caracas’s El Helicoide prison without access to private lawyers, family visits or independent medical care. She says he was recently transferred to a windowless cell shared with other inmates. Cipriani warned that Rocha suffers from hydrocephalus and relies on a surgically implanted valve to drain cerebrospinal fluid, adding that prolonged isolation and poor ventilation pose serious health risks. Human-rights groups have previously documented allegations of torture and ill-treatment at the facility. Opposition leader María Corina Machado described Rocha and other detainees as “heroes” and urged supporters to continue pressing for their freedom. No comment was immediately available from Venezuela’s Information Ministry.