By Andrew Cawthorne
CARACAS (Reuters) - The wife and mother of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez have alleged being subjected to abusive strip searches but Venezuela's government says they are lying and has broadcast secret recordings to discredit them.
Venezuela's opposition and the ruling Socialists have long accused each other of manipulating public opinion and Lopez' case is particularly sensitive because he has become an international cause celebre for rights groups.
Lopez' wife, Lilian Tintori, said that on a visit to Ramo Verde prison last weekend, guards made her undress, repeatedly open her legs and removed her sanitary pad.
His mother, Antonieta Mendoza, later had to undress in front of two grandchildren, according to the family and their lawyers.
"They have psychologically tortured me and Leopoldo with their actions and now even my children are being exposed to their abuse," Tintori said in accusations that brought expressions of outrage from inside and outside Venezuela.
U.S.-educated Lopez, 44, who runs the hard-line Popular Will party, is serving a nearly 14-year sentence on charges of inciting anti-government protests in 2014 that spiraled into violence killing 43 people.
Supporters say he is a scapegoat whose imprisonment symbolizes President Nicolas Maduro's dictatorial nature.
The government, which has long viewed Lopez as a dangerous conspirator who supported a 2002 coup against Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez, says the family's accusations were concocted as part of a media strategy.
State TV broadcast on Wednesday night what appeared to be a secretly recorded conversation between Lopez and Tintori inside Ramo Verde discussing how to pressure a senior prison official over new restrictions on Lopez's jail conditions.
Reuters was not able to verify the audio's authenticity, although the voices sounded like the couple.
"Look for the guy's photo ... then the whole campaign," Lopez says in a hushed voice, urging his wife to seek allies and go to opposition-friendly media.
"I'll give it my all," says Tintori, who has been crisscrossing the world to publicize her husband's case.
Another video on state TV showed Tintori and other relatives purportedly entering Lopez's cell freely.
"It's a show, abhorrent," said Socialist Party official Diosdado Cabello, presenting the broadcasts on his weekly TV show "Bashing With the Bludgeon."
"Mrs. Lilian Tintori is a professional liar," Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez weighed in.
Lopez lawyer Juan Carlos Gutierrez said the recordings were proof of the illegal invasion of the couple's privacy and were being analysed for evidence of voice manipulation.