- The non-governmental organization questioned the justice system for the decision to issue an arrest warrant against the opposition leader.
The Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict (OVCS) warned on Tuesday, September 3, that a possible arrest of Edmundo González could generate citizen protests in the country.
The statement by the non-governmental organization (NGO) came a day after a statement was issued arrest warrant against the opposition leader.
“The arrest warrant against Edmundo González shows a justice system at the service of the Executive Branch, ignoring the popular will and democratic guarantees. His possible arrest could be a catalyst for intense citizen protests in the coming days,” the OVCS said on its X account.
The observatory denounced that the arrest warrant arose in “a context of deep distrust towards Venezuelan institutions and growing social and political tension.”
The arrest warrant against Edmundo González
On Monday, September 2, the First Instance Court in Control Functions of Venezuela issued an arrest warrant against Edmundo González.
The judicial body made the decision after the Public Prosecutor’s Office requested an arrest warrant against the opposition leader 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, made by prosecutor Luis Erneto Dueñez Reyes, was made after the MP summoned González Urrutia on three occasions and he decided not to appear, as he did not know in what capacity he should appear and did not acknowledge the crimes attributed to him.
According to a document from the Prosecutor’s Office dated September 2, the PUD flag bearer is also accused of “instigating disobedience of laws,” “conspiracy,” “sabotage to damage systems and association.”
The investigation into González is related with the publication of a web page in which the Democratic Unitary Platform 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 opposition coalition 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 González Urrutia’s victory by a wide margin.
On August 29, when the third summons was made public, the Prosecutor’s Office warned that if he did not appear again, “a corresponding arrest warrant would be issued” considering that he “is at risk of flight.”
Gonzalez warned of the lack of due process guarantees
On August 25, the date on which the first summons was issued, González stated that the Public Prosecutor’s Office intended to subject him “to an interview without specifying the condition in which he is expected to appear and pre-qualifying crimes that he did not commit.”
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.”
Opposition leader María Corina Machado rejected the arrest warrant requested by the Public Prosecutor’s Office against Edmundo González.
They have lost all sense of reality. By threatening the president-elect, they only succeed in uniting us more and increasing the support of Venezuelans and the world for Edmundo González. Serenity, courage and firmness. We are moving forward,” he wrote on his X account.
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2024-09-04 05:39:33
