Rory Branker Acquitted in Venezuela Terrorism Case
PRESS FREEDOM · VENEZUELA
Key Facts
- —The country Venezuela, governed by acting president Delcy Rodríguez, is holding US-backed talks with part of the opposition. Its courts have started closing cases against press workers.
- —What happened On 2 October 2026 a terrorism trial court acquitted Rory Branker, editor of La Patilla, of five charges including treason and terrorism, the SNTP press union said.
- —The numbers Arrested on 20 February 2025, he was freed on 4 February 2026 after 11 months and 15 days in prison. Court restrictions lasted another eight months.
- —What it means for you Four of six press cases the union flagged on 4 September closed within a month. La Patilla’s website is still blocked inside Venezuela, according to the VE sin Filtro monitor.
- —Still open Cases against Jonathan Carrillo and Carlos Julio Rojas remain open, the SNTP says (as of 3 October). The written judgment in Branker’s case has not been published.
A Venezuelan court acquitted Rory Branker, editor of the news site La Patilla, on Friday 2 October. The ruling ends a terrorism and treason case that kept him under court restrictions after his release in February.
The SNTP, Venezuela’s National Union of Press Workers, announced the verdict, and DW, El Diario and El Estímulo reported it. It is the fourth closed case in a month among six that the union flagged on 4 September.
What the court decided
The Second Trial Court for terrorism cases issued a full acquittal, according to the SNTP. El Estímulo reported on 3 October that the prosecution had asked for acquittal from the start of the hearing.
The ruling lifts the measures Branker had lived under since February. He had to report to the court at regular intervals and was barred from leaving the country.
At the hearing he was represented by Yoel García, a lawyer who works with the press union. El Estímulo describes Branker as La Patilla’s director, while DW and El Diario call him its editor.
Nearly a year in custody over a post on X
Officers of Sebin, the national intelligence service, arrested Rory Branker in Caracas on 20 February 2025, El Diario reported. They later searched his home and removed electronic equipment.
The SNTP says his case file cited a photo he had shared on X. It showed the rewards the United States offered for the capture of Nicolás Maduro and senior officials.
He was charged with treason, terrorism, financing terrorism, conspiracy and criminal association. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said at the time that Branker was held over alleged extortion and false information.
For months there was no public word on where he was held. A UN fact-finding mission later said there were grounds to speak of a possible enforced disappearance, El Diario reported.
He walked out of prison on 4 February 2026 after 11 months and 15 days. In April a court refused to close his case under the amnesty law, so the restrictions stayed in place.
Four of six cases closed in a month
On 4 September the SNTP named six journalists and press workers still facing charges, as reported in Venezuela Press Freedom: Six Still Face Charges, Union Says. That list has shrunk quickly since.
A court dismissed the case against Carlos Correa, director of the free-speech group Espacio Público, on 17 September. On 30 September another trial court acquitted journalists Luis López and Gabriel González.
Jorge Rodríguez, the government’s chief negotiator in the talks, promised on 25 September to lift such measures, DW reported. He linked the step to free-speech agreements reached in the second round of the US-backed dialogue.
Press groups had pressed for exactly this. The press institute IPYS proposed closing all six cases at a dialogue session on free expression, El Diario reported.
Progress, with clear limits
The acquittals are the most concrete result yet of the talks for Venezuela’s press. They follow the release of detainees reported on 27 September in Venezuela Frees 39 Detainees After Opposition Talks; Hundreds Still Jailed.
The limits remain plain. La Patilla itself is still blocked inside Venezuela, according to the VE sin Filtro monitor cited by El Diario.
That monitor counted 177 restricted web domains as of 21 September, 73 of them news sites. Unions and NGOs are also pressing to scrap the law most used against reporters, covered in Venezuela Hate Law Reform: Unions and NGOs Demand All Open Cases Be Annulled.
What Is Not Yet Known
Two people on the union’s list still face open cases, DW reported, citing the SNTP: Jonathan Carrillo and Carlos Julio Rojas. Both must still report to court regularly and live under restrictions.
No hearing dates for them had been reported by 3 October, and the full judgment in Rory Branker’s case is not public. It is also unclear whether the authorities will lift the block on La Patilla’s website.
Sources: SNTP statement of 2 October 2026 as reported by El Estímulo (3 October), DW (3 October) and El Diario (2 October); Espacio Público on the Correa dismissal (18 September) and the López and González acquittals (1 October).
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