CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia faces an arrest warrant if he ignores a third demand to appear before prosecutors over the country’s disputed presidential election, the latest summons said Thursday.
Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, ignored two prior demands to appear this week as part of a probe into his claim that he was the rightful victor of last month’s presidential election.
President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of the election, but the opposition — which had been leading in the polls — cried foul, publishing its own voting records on a website appearing to show a convincing win for Gonzalez Urrutia.
The United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have refused to recognize Maduro as having won without seeing detailed voting results.
Gonzalez Urrutia, who became a last-minute candidate after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was banned from running in the July 28 election and backed him, has been in hiding for three weeks.
“Obviously he is not going to go. What are we talking about?” Machado told a news conference with Spanish media, referring to the summons.
If Gonzalez Urrutia does not appear for the third summons on Friday, “it will be considered that we are in the presence of a flight risk… and a risk of obstruction… for which the corresponding arrest warrant will be issued,” the summons warned.
Maduro has said both Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia belong “behind bars,” blaming them for protests that erupted after his victory which left at least 25 civilians dead and more than 2,400 arrested.
Foro Penal, an NGO which advocates on behalf of political prisoners, said that 16 minors were released from police custody in Caracas on Thursday following arrest during the post-election protests.
More than 100 minors have been arrested as a result of election protests, according to the NGO.
The summonses have not specified in what capacity Gonzalez Urrutia, a retired diplomat, is to appear — whether as a defendant, witness or expert.
They have only mentioned he will be interrogated as part of an investigation into “usurpation of functions” and “forgery of public documents,” crimes that can theoretically lead to a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
He is also being investigated for “instigation to disobedience of the law” and “computer crimes.”
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council has declined to publish its records, claiming hackers had corrupted the data.
Election observers have said there was no evidence of the purported cyberattack.
“Digitizing and safeguarding the voting records that are ours by law is not a crime,” read a statement published by the opposition Thursday evening.
“Furthermore, nothing prevents said records, after the CNE first announced results, from being published for the knowledge and verification of the citizens.”
Attorney General Tarek William Saab has also announced a criminal investigation against Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia for “instigating military insurrection,” after they urged the military to recognize an opposition victory.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday that Maduro had no “democratic legitimacy.”
“He will remain president de facto. Yes, de facto. But we deny democratic legitimacy based on a result that cannot be verified,” Borrell told a news conference in Brussels.
“We believe that the electoral victory that he’s claiming was not endorsed, it’s not approved. And therefore we have no reason to believe it,” Borrell added.
Borrell said the EU would “maintain close contact with and support the opposition.”
Gonzalez Urrutia also briefed EU foreign ministers on the situation in Venezuela by video link during the meeting, but his comments were not made public.
