Venezuelan lawyers ask Maduro's gov't to probe 'criminal' Twitter attacks on justices

CARACAS, Venezuela, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- A Venezuelan lawyer's union is asking President Nicolas Maduro's Public Ministry to investigate Twitter threats against high court justices and WhatsApp message groups related to food.

The Lawyers Movement in Defense of the Constitution union on Monday urged the Venezuelan Attorney General's Office to investigate 19 Twitter accounts that were administered by "civil society" allegedly being used to attack the Supreme Tribunal of Justice. Lilian González, who is leading the effort, described the accounts as a "new form of criminalization against the institutions" as part of a "fourth generation of warfare."

González said the Twitter accounts "have been used to put bad on our judges," adding the attorney general must reveal the identities of those behind the accounts, El Universal reported.

The group also asked the ministry to investigate WhatsApp phone application message groups that are related to food, which the lawyers said "create a state of anxiety" in Venezuela. González called the WhatsApp groups "false chains."

González said the union wants to take action to protect the integrity of Venezuela's public institutions, citing that Article 60 of Venezuela's Constitution allows for the limitation of the use of information technology to "ensure the honor and personal and family privacy of citizens and the full exercise of their rights."

González did not publicly reveal which Twitter accounts or WhatsApp groups are accused.