Venezuela assembly ousts attorney general after guards swarm her office

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Venezuela's newly elected National Constituent Assembly voted unanimously to remove Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz from office.

The assembly voted to permanently remove Ortega Diaz from her Supreme Court position and replaced her with Tarek William Saab, Venezuela's human rights ombudsman and supporter of President Nicolas Maduro.

Prior to the vote on Saturday Ortega Diaz tweeted photos showing dozens of uniformed guards standing outside, in what she called a "siege" and an "arbitrary act" on her office in Caracas.

About three dozen troops stood outside the building and apparently stopped Ortega Diaz and others from moving in and out of the building.

Her office also tweeted that the department's employees were "victims of abuse" by the guards.

Ortega Diaz was a supporter of Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez, but clashed with Maduro about repression against street protesters and announced on Wednesday she had opened an investigation into the election that created the Maduro-backed National Constituent Assembly.

The London-based company that handled the election's polling technology has said they are sure "without any doubt" that the vote was manipulated.

A human rights commission of the Organization of American States asked that Venezuela's government guarantee the safety of Ortega and her family from prosecution following her removal from office.