CARACAS, Venezuela -- A conflict between President Nicolas Maduro's government and his increasingly defiant chief prosecutor was coming to a head Tuesday as Luisa Ortega Diaz announced she was boycotting a Supreme Court hearing on whether to lift her immunity from being tried for unspecified irregularities.
Ortega Diaz argued that the outcome of Tuesday's hearing was a foregone conclusion decided by the government, which violates her legal right to defense and due process.
"I am not going to validate a circus that will stain our history with shame and pain," she said at a news conference as the hearing was getting underway.
The case, which accuses her of "serious errors" while in office, was brought by a ruling-party lawmaker and could lead to her ouster.
National Guard troops and riot police took up positions outside the court building in Caracas, where protests against Maduro's government have been raging almost daily for several months.
On Monday the government-stacked Supreme Court acted to strip a key power from Ortega by filling the post of her deputy with a loyalist who was sanctioned by the United States in 2015 for her role prosecuting some of Maduro's most vocal opponents.
The decision to name Katherine Haringhton to the post effectively made her the nation's No. 2 law enforcement official even though the constitution says the semiautonomous chief prosecutor has the power to name her own deputy, with confirmation by legislators in the National Assembly.
Lawmakers on Monday had re-confirmed Ortega's own choice as deputy after he was removed by the high court last week.
As Venezuela's political crisis has deepened, Ortega has emerged as Maduro's most feared critic. In April the once-loyal leftist broke with the government over its decision to strip the congress of its last powers, and she has made common cause with rightist opponents in blasting Maduro's plans to rewrite Venezuela's 1999 constitution.
The Supreme Court has also attacked Ortega's authority by throwing out her order for the former head of the National Guard to testify about accusations of human-rights abuses during the crackdown on the protests, which have left at least 80 dead. It has also limited her powers to investigate abuses. Her powers are now shared with the nation's ombudsman.
The almost daily assault has only emboldened Ortega, who was applauded Monday during an address by opposition lawmakers who until a few months ago considered her Maduro's jailer.
Haringhton, a career prosecutor, was sanctioned by former U.S. President Barack Obama's administration in 2015 for her role pursuing charges against members of the political opposition.
That included the jailing of Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma on charges of plotting to overthrow Maduro and a case against former lawmaker Maria Corina Machado that was based on emails later shown to be fraudulent.
A Section on 07/05/2017