Alexander Tirado is an athlete and leader of the opposition political party, Voluntad Popular (VP), who was arrested, along with Raúl Emilio Baduel, on 21 March 2014 while participating in a peaceful protest. After being subjected to a judicial process plagued with irregularities, they were sentenced to 8 years in prison. Tirado and Baduel reported that during their detention they had been victims of torture and ill-treatment, facts that have not been duly investigated by the authorities. On 22 November 2017, Alexander Tirado spent his fourth birthday on arbitrary conviction. Amnesty International calls for his freedom.

Alexander Tirado is an athlete and leader of the opposition political party, Voluntad Popular (VP).

On 21 March 2014, Tirado, along with Raúl Emilio Baduel, was arrested by officials of the Aragua State Police in the city of Maracay, Aragua state (central region), while protesting for the materialization of San José fairs during a time of high social and political conflict that had claimed the lives of many people in Venezuela.

Tirado was arrested speaking through a megaphone. Despite the existence of videos and multiple witnesses providing evidence that the protest was taking place peacefully, on 22 March 2014, the Second Trial Court of Aragua state presented charges of public incitement, public intimidation with explosive devices and criminal gang, as well as arrest warrants were issued against Baduel and Tirado.

Baduel and Tirado have reported that they were subjected to torture and ill-treatment during their preventive detention. Specifically, they report that they were beaten by police officers and transferred on multiple occasions without judicial authorization.

On 10 April, they were held in the Penitentiary Center Centro Occidente II, known as the Uribana Prison, located in the city of Barquisimeto, Lara state (central region), 4 hours away from their families and defence team. In this detention center, tear gas bombs were thrown into their cell, they were given hot food in their hands so that it would fall to the ground and waste water entered in their cell. They also denounced torture with proselytizing music at night, and the order by the custodians to lie down on hot asphalt floor, episode in which they report having suffered burns on their genitals. These facts were reported to the Office of the Prosecutor on 24 November 2014.

On 4 March 2015, the Second Trial Court of Aragua state sentenced Baduel and Tirado to eight years in prison for the crimes of public intimidation, criminal gang and instigation to disobedience.

As the lawyers explained to Amnesty International, among the arbitrary acts committed in their prosecution and sentencing, there is the unjustified exclusion of evidence -such as videos presented in which the peaceful nature of the protest is demonstrated-, and to base the sentence on the use of a megaphone as a sign that they were in place with objects that could endanger public calmness. In addition, the lawyers were denied copies of the first proceedings, and the hearings held were not recorded, despite being a legal requirement.

In the appealing process, the irregularities continued: the Court of Appeals did not materialize the transfer of Baduel and Tirado to the seat of the Court, so they could not be heard. On 31 July 2015, the appeal was dismissed.

On 15 June 2016, the appeal was filed to request the cancellation of the arrest warrant, given that two years, two months and 24 days after the arrest of Baduel and Tirado, no firm sentence had been issued. Until March 2017, there had not been a judgment on the matter.

On 14 January 2017, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued a precautionary measure requesting the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to protect the life of Baduel and Tirado, given the situation of risk given the arbitrary detention as a result of his political position.

Currently, Baduel and Tirado are in Centro Experimental de Rehabilitación y Reclusión (Experimental Center for Rehabilitation and Detention in English) in the state of Aragua (central region). They have been in four detention centers.

On 22 November 2017, Alexander Tirado spent his fourth birthday in prison, serving an arbitrary sentence.