The Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) announced on Monday that it had summoned the presidential candidate of the main opposition coalition, Edmundo González Urrutia, for the second time. It is not known whether he answered the first call or maintained communication with the prosecutor’s office, which was scheduled for today, as part of an investigation against him.
“Please appear (…) on August 27 at 10:00 a.m. in order to give an interview in relation to the facts that this office is investigating, related to the publication and maintenance” of a website, in which the opposition claims to have uploaded “83.5% of the electoral records” to support its claim of “fraud” in the presidential elections of July 28.
The largest opposition bloc, the Democratic Unitary Platform (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.
For this reason, the MP summoned the PUD standard-bearer for the “alleged commission of the crimes of usurpation of functions, forgery of public documents, instigation to disobedience of the law, computer crimes, criminal association and conspiracy,” which carry sentences of up to 16 years in prison.
On Sunday, 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,” although he did not confirm or deny his attendance.
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.”
In his message, the former ambassador urged Maduro to “understand, for once, that the solution is not in repression, but in the international, independent and reliable verification of the records, which cannot be replaced by a sentence issued outside the Constitution,” in reference to the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) ruling that validated the reelection of the official candidate.
While the Government and the MP point out that the minutes released by the opposition are false, several organizations support their veracity, including the Carter Center, which participated as an observer in the elections, invited by the CNE.
With information from EFE
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2024-08-27 02:32:21
