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A Utah mother waiting for her son to be freed from a Venezuelan jail received a familiar phone call Tuesday.
For the second time since his imprisonment in June, the judge handling Josh Holt's case did not show up to a preliminary hearing and left a note on the courtroom door to inform lawyers of the absence, Laurie Holt said.
"Today's not been an easy day for me," Josh Holt's mother said.
Lawyers had met with Josh Holt on Thursday, Laurie Holt was informed, but they didn't have much good news to share.
The guards at the jail allegedly had made her 24-year-old son strip naked and do exercises in the hallway where other prisoners could see him, she was told, so they could mock him and make fun of him to show him disrespect.
"It's international law they've broken now," Laurie Holt said.
Secretary of State John Kerry had met with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Colombia, Laurie Holt said, and that meeting gave U.S. leaders confidence that the president was "on their side," which made Tuesday's news even more disappointing.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has been working with U.S. leaders to try to find a way to bring Josh Holt home, and in a video on his Facebook page Monday, he expressed his commitment to the case. Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, posted a statement Tuesday after hearing of the most recent developments with Josh Holt's case, personally calling on Maduro to release the prisoner.
"I am both heartbroken and outraged. ... This, once again, represents a lack of respect for human dignity and civil rights in a country whose citizens suffer more and more each day," Love wrote. "For three months now, an unjust system in Venezuela has prevented Joshua Holt from receiving adequate medical attention and, most importantly, his day in court."
Love pledged to continue working with fellow legislators, leaders in the State Department and the Venezuelan embassy to do "everything I can" to ensure Josh Holt's speedy release.
Laurie Holt said she learned Tuesday that in the Venezuelan judicial system, judges follow government orders; she's under the impression that the Venezuelan government told the judge not to show up for the hearing both times.
Josh Holt was arrested June 20 on weapon charges that his mother says were made up. He and his wife, a woman from Venezuela, were married two weeks before his arrest and were preparing to come back to the U.S. with her daughters.
Josh Holt and his wife have been imprisoned for nearly four months, and they believe that they were targeted because he is American.
Laurie Holt hopes to find out the new date for a preliminary hearing by Thursday.
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