43 years old
Rory Daniel Branker is a 43-year-old journalist with the digital media outlet La Patilla who was arbitrarily detained on February 20, 2025, by officials of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) while with his partner in Caracas. According to the testimony of his partner, María Gabriela Lara González, following his arrest, their home was searched without a search warrant, and electronic equipment was seized. From that moment, he remained in a state of enforced disappearance for several months, while his relatives searched various detention centers without receiving official information about his whereabouts. He was subsequently transferred through facilities including DIP Maripérez, Zona 7, the PNB police station in San Agustín, and finally to the Tocorón Penitentiary Center, where he remained deprived of liberty until his release on February 4, 2026. During his imprisonment, he was granted precautionary measures by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) due to the grave risk to his life and personal integrity. Although he recovered his freedom, he remains subject to periodic court reporting requirements and other judicial restrictions after authorities rejected his request for amnesty without public justification. International press freedom organizations have denounced his case as an example of criminal persecution against independent journalists in Venezuela and have demanded the definitive dismissal of all charges against him.