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Just over a year after Josh Holt was arrested on what his family says are trumped-up charges in Venezuela, his parents and lawyers are calling for the United States to increase pressure on the South American government for his release.

In June 2016, police arrested Josh Holt on an accusation of illegally possessing weapons; he remains behind bars in a Venezuelan jail.

On Monday, he suffered a concussion and possibly fractured his back, falling 6-8 feet from his bunk, according to his lawyer, Carlos Trujillo, who had been at the jail the day of the fall.

"Fortunately, our lawyer was there when he fell and we were able to find out about it quickly," said Jason Holt, Josh Holt's father. "We've been told that they've had doctors in to see other prisoners, but they wouldn't allow [the doctors] to see Josh."

Aside from a brief exam, Josh Holt, 25, hadn't received medical treatment, his family said. Examiners concluded that he would need an X-ray and an MRI

"He is suffering right now, and they won't treat him," said his mother, Laurie Holt.

In response, Josh Holt's parents stood with Sen. Orrin Hatch and Trujillo on Friday to announce three requests: that Josh Holt receive medical care, that the White House release a statement about the imprisonment and that U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley consider the "inhumane treatment of my son, Josh Holt, as the main basis to remove Venezuela from the United Nations Human Rights Council," said Jason Holt.

"We just need to exhaust every option possible," he said.

The Riverton native was arrested on June 30, 2016. He had traveled to Venezuela to marry Thamara Caleno, whom he met online while looking for someone to practice Spanish with. Holt learned Spanish as a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints missionary in Washington state.

The couple married on June 16, 2016, and had planned to return to Utah once Caleno obtained a visa, but they were arrested on accusations that Holt was a spy and had stockpiled guns and grenades in Caleno's apartment.

Venezuelan authorities initially filed two charges against Josh Holt: possession of a war weapon, and possession of a look-alike weapon. The second charge was dropped after 45 days, Trujillo said. Initially, authorities also said Josh Holt was a spy, according to Trujillo, though no charge was never filed.

Josh Holt's preliminary hearing has been rescheduled five times, Trujillo said. Initially, hearings were rescheduled because of a judge assigned to the case was not available. Trujillo called into question the legitimacy of that situation, calling it "an excuse."

Repeatedly rescheduling the hearing broke the law, Trujillo said, because the Venezuelan Constitution guarantees a speedy trial.

"There is also a violation of keeping a person in prison without a hearing," Trujillo said. "Having him detained or taking away his liberty is actually a crime."

If Josh Holt could get a preliminary hearing, Trujillo believes he could get a plea bargain for what amounts to a misdemeanor, and the Utahn would be able to return to his family.

The hearing hasn't been scheduled a sixth time because of unrest and protests in the country. Near-daily protests have the courts on lockdown, Trujillo said. Protesters have accused the Venezuelan government of eroding democracy after its Supreme Court dissolved Parliament in March.

Josh Holt can see his mother-in-law and Caleno's two daughters, a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old, a couple of times a week for "family days." The visits have been canceled for the past month because of the protests, Laurie Holt said. He doesn't have access to the internet in his cell, she said, but he has a TV.

"I hope he sees this, but I don't know," she said.

Tfrandsen@sltrib.com

Twitter: @Tiffany_mf