(Caracas) The Venezuelan prosecutor’s office summoned for the third time on Friday opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who claims victory in the presidential election, warning him that an “arrest warrant” would be issued against him if he did not appear, according to the summons issued Thursday by the prosecutor.
Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia, who ignored two previous summonses, must “appear on August 30 at 10 a.m.” for a hearing.
“In the event of failure to appear,” “the corresponding arrest warrant” will be issued, we can read in the text, which states a “risk of flight” of the opponent, summoned as part of an investigation on the opposition website presenting him as the one who came out on top in the July 28 election against outgoing President Nicolas Maduro, officially declared the winner.
The prosecution refers to the “alleged” crimes of “usurpation of functions, [d’]incitement to disobey the laws, [de] computer crimes, [d’]criminal association and [de] conspiracy”.
A former ambassador, now 74, Mr Gonzalez Urrutia has not appeared in public since July 30.
Nicolas Maduro, whose victory was validated by the Supreme Court on August 22, was declared the winner with 52% of the vote by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which has however not released the minutes of the polling stations, saying it was the victim of computer hacking.
PHOTO FAUSTO TORREALBA, REUTERS
Nicolas Maduro
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 obtained through its scrutineers, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won the presidential election with more than 60% of the vote.
Without showing them, the Supreme Court assured that it had verified the reports submitted by the authorities, as well as the reality of the computer attack against the CNE.
The announcement of the re-election of Nicolas Maduro, 61, sparked spontaneous demonstrations that left 27 dead and 192 injured, according to official sources. Some 2,400 people were also arrested, according to the same source.