By CARLA SALAZAR (AP) – 1 hour ago

LIMA, Peru — A Venezuelan opposition figure sought political asylum in Peru on Thursday to evade charges that he incited violence in an August protest against a controversial education law, his lawyer said.

A Venezuelan court ordered the arrest of Oscar Perez last month on charges of conspiring to commit and instigate crimes during an Aug. 22 political demonstration against an education law. Critics fear the law will lead to political indoctrination in schools.

Perez's lawyer Angel Delgado said the charges amount to political persecution by the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Peru's foreign ministry could not be reached to confirm the asylum requests.

Perez helped found the anti-Chavez group, the National Resistance Commando, which has organized street protests against the government. Chavez allies regularly accused Perez of conspiring to destabilize the government — allegations he says are unfounded.

"We are convinced that Peru's government, honoring its continental tradition of solidarity for the defense of those who fight for democratic liberty, will grant asylum whenever there is a clear case of political persecution," Delgado said.

Peru has become a hub for asylum-seekers at odds with the region's left-wing governments. From Venezuela, opposition leaders Manuel Rosales and Eduardo Lapi and labor leader Carlos Ortega have received asylum from Peruvian President Alan Garcia's government, along with three former Bolivian Cabinet ministers.

Venezuelans Didalco Bolivar, a former governor, and student leader Nixon Moreno also requested asylum in Peru in recent months but the government has been silent on the status of their requests.

Venezuelan Penal Forum, a Venezuela-based human rights group, says over 2,000 Chavez opponents have gone to trial in the past seven years for crimes stemming from their participation in protests.

Attorney General Luisa Ortega denies prosecutors are persecuting Chavez foes and that those arrested committed crimes like disturbing the peace or assaulting police officers.

Perez's wife, Marta Molina, said her husband sought asylum in Peru "because there's no possibility of a fair trial in Venezuela."

"The entire justice system is controlled by the government, and the judges do whatever the president orders," Molina said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press.

Perez had not informed her or the couple's two daughters of his decision, Molina said. When they heard about his asylum request through the media they broke down in tears, she said.

"We cried for hours," Molina said. "We miss him."

Associated Press writer Chris Toothaker in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

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