Arrest warrant against Edmundo González is rejected by nine Latin American countries

Montevideo, Sep 3 (EFE).- The arrest warrant issued by the judge of the First Special Court of the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela against opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia was issuedthrown out by Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay.

“The arrest warrant cites several alleged crimes that are nothing more than another attempt to silence Mr. González, to ignore the popular will of Venezuela, and constitute political persecution.”said a joint statement issued by the nine countries.

He also argues that in a country “where there is no separation of powers or minimum judicial guarantees and where arbitrary arrests abound,” they condemn these “dictatorial practices.”

“Our efforts will be firm and continuous to demand from the Venezuelan authorities “guarantee the life, integrity and freedom of Edmundo González Urrutia,” concludes the text.

Venezuela’s Attorney General’s Office on Monday asked a court specializing in “terrorism” crimes to issue an “arrest warrant” against the standard-bearer of the largest opposition coalition, Edmundo González Urrutia, for his “alleged commission of crimes of usurpation of functions” and “forgery of public documents,” in relation to the electoral records of the presidential elections of July 28.

The request is made after the Prosecutor’s Office summoned González Urrutia on three occasions and the opponent decided not to appear, not knowing in what capacity he should appear and not admitting the crimes that the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) attributes to him.

According to a document from the public prosecutor’s office dated today, the anti-Chavez activist is also accused of “instigating disobedience of laws,” “conspiracy,” “sabotage to damage systems and association (to commit crimes).”

The investigation into González Urrutia 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 polling station members on election night 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) declared 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.

Last Thursday, when the third summons was made public, the Prosecutor’s Office warned that if he did not appear again, “an arrest warrant would be issued” considering that he “is at risk of flight.”

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