Venezuela Elections | Opposition denounces lack of “guarantee of independence” of justice

(Caracas) Invisible in public for more than three weeks, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the opposition candidate who claims victory in the July 28 presidential election in Venezuela, considered that his summons by the prosecutor on Monday was carried out “without guarantee of independence” of justice.

Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia, 74, who did not make it clear whether or not he would surrender to the public prosecutor’s office on Monday at 10 a.m., accused the “Attorney General of the Republic [Tarek William Saab] “to “behave like a political accuser.”

“He condemns in advance and is now pushing for a summons without any guarantee of independence,” he denounced in a video published on social networks on Sunday evening.

Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia “will have to take responsibility,” Tarek William Saab had said on Friday. “He must attend this meeting to speak […] of his responsibility before July 28, during July 28 and after July 28 for his “recalcitrance”, his disobedience to the legitimately constituted authorities”.

The announcement of the re-election of Nicolas Maduro, 61, sparked spontaneous demonstrations, which were brutally repressed. They left 27 dead, 192 injured, while 2,400 people were arrested, according to official sources.

Nicolas Maduro regularly accuses Mr Gonzalez Urrutia of being responsible for the violence and calls him a “coward”.

“It is time for you to understand once and for all that the solution does not lie in repression, but in the independent and reliable international verification of the results,” Gonzalez Urrutia told him on Sunday night. “For the peace and well-being of the country, present the results. We demand respect for the will of the people.”

On Thursday, unsurprisingly, the Supreme Court, the Superior Tribunal of Justice (TSJ), considered subservient to the government, validated Mr. Maduro’s re-election for a third term. A “historic and indisputable” decision, Mr. Maduro considered. “Zero,” according to the opposition.

Call for demonstration on Wednesday

Mr Maduro was declared the winner with 52% of the vote by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which has not, however, made public the minutes of the polling stations, saying it was the victim of computer hacking.

Such an attack is considered implausible by the opposition and many observers who see it as a maneuver by the government to avoid disclosing the exact count.

According to the opposition, which has made public the minutes provided by its scrutineers, Mr Gonzalez Urrutia obtained more than 60% of the votes.

Without showing them, the TSJ assured that it had verified the reports submitted by the authorities, as well as the reality of the computer attack against the CNE.

Mr Gonzalez Urrutia is at risk of arrest, particularly since the prosecutor opened an investigation against him and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for “usurpation of functions, dissemination of false information, incitement to disobedience of the law, incitement to insurrection, criminal association”.

Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia and Mr.^me Machado have been living in semi-clandestine conditions for three weeks. The opposition leader called on Saturday to demonstrate on August 28, “one month after our glorious victory, in which Edmundo Gonzalez was elected president.”

“Inconsistencies”

If M^me Machado, who has said she feared for her life, appeared at two opposition protests — arriving on a truck surrounded by crowds and disappearing on a motorcycle to avoid arrest — while Gonzalez Urrutia has not been seen since July 30, including at opposition protests and Supreme Court summonses for presidential hearings.

Lawyer Joel Garcia, who defends the imprisoned opponents, warns that “for the entire catalogue of crimes, the sentence” faced by Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia “can reach 30 years,” the maximum prison sentence in the country.

Joel Garcia, however, assures that the summons to appear presents, according to him, “a series of inconsistencies.” “We should say in what capacity he is summoned: as a witness, as an accused or as an expert?”, he emphasizes.

“If we assume that he is charged, he should appear with his defense. Otherwise, anything he might say would be null and void,” he added.

In addition, the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) denounced the arrest of a journalist, Carmela Longo. Citing police sources, the SNTP assures that she will be accused of “incitement to hatred” and “terrorism.”

The arrest of M^me Longo, an entertainment reporter, is the seventh arrest of a journalist reported by the union since the July 28 election.