by Dianelis Hernandez
Venezuela ‘s Attorney General’s Office asked a court specializing in “terrorism” crimes at midday on Monday to issue an “arrest warrant” against the standard-bearer of the largest opposition coalition, Edmundo González Urrutia, and the greatest rival of dictator Nicolás Maduro.
In a document circulating on social media, prosecutor Luis Ernesto Dueñez Reyes requested the arrest of González Urrutia for his “alleged commission of crimes of usurpation of functions” and “forgery of public documents,” conspiracy, sabotage and illicit association.
According to a document from the public prosecutor’s office dated today, August 2, the anti-Chavez man is also accused of “instigating disobedience of laws,” without further argument.
The request is made after the Prosecutor’s Office summoned the man recognized by several countries in the region as the new president of Venezuela, on three occasions and the opposition leader decided not to appear, not knowing in what capacity he should appear and not recognizing the crimes that the Public Ministry of the South American country (MP) attributes to him.
ÚLTIMA HORA | Ministerio Público pide orden de aprehensión contra Edmundo González Urrutia #Venezuela #EdmundoGonzalez #Fiscalia pic.twitter.com/0cUA5cxmSW
— Americateve (@Americateve) September 2, 2024
The alleged investigation into González Urrutia (pictured above) is related to the publication of a website in which the main opposition coalition – the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) – claims to have uploaded “83.5% of the electoral records” collected by witnesses and members of the table on the night of the election to support its claim of fraud in the presidential elections.
The PUD released these records, which the Executive calls “false”, after the National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed Nicolás Maduro the winner of the elections , which has been questioned by numerous countries, some of which support that González Urrutia won by a wide margin. The official records have not been published by the government.
Last Thursday, when the third summons for the opposition was made public, the Prosecutor’s Office warned that, if he did not attend again, “a corresponding arrest warrant would be issued” considering that he “is in the presence of a risk of flight.”
On August 25 – the date on which the first summons was issued -, through a video posted on social media, González Urrutia said that the MP “intends to subject him to an interview without specifying the condition in which he is expected to appear and pre-qualifying crimes not committed.”
In his opinion, the attorney general, Tarek William Saab, “has repeatedly behaved like a political accuser,” since – he asserted – “he condemns in advance and now promotes a summons without guarantees of independence and due process.”
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Dianelis Hernandez is a reporter for ADN America.
Photo “Edmundo González Urrutia” by Edmundo González Urrutia.
