The Prosecutor’s Office assures that no death in protests is “attributable” to the State

Caracas, Aug 21 (EFE).- Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab said on Wednesday that, Of the 25 deaths recorded in the post-election protests, none are “attributable” to the “state security forces”“, while claiming that 70% of the victims were “murdered” by “criminal groups” that he linked to the largest opposition coalition, without specifying those responsible for the remaining 30% of the deaths.

“Literally, of all the victims, 70% were killed by criminal groups. I will say the first major conclusion. None (deaths) attributable to State security forces, none attributable to civil, military or police officials linked to the State. Because we do not have a single complaint,” said Saab.

In a meeting with diplomats accredited in Venezuela, broadcast by Globovisión, Saab reported that two deaths must be added to the 25 initially recorded, because “the roadblocks with hooded men” and “armed men” caused “two fatal accidents” and “led to the death of two people.”

He also said that the Attorney General’s Office recorded 190 injuries in the protests, of which – he said – “approximately 100 are members of the police and military forces.”

Following the election, the largest opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), considered it “fraudulent” that the electoral authorities declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the presidential election, which triggered protests against the official result that, in addition to deaths and injuries, left more than 2,400 people arrested, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

The PUD claims that its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, is the winner of the elections according to “83.5%” of the electoral records that it claims to have gathered from witnesses and members of the table, and that were distributed on a website, although the Government considers that they are false documents.

On Saturday, González Urrutia criticized the fact that the Maduro government, instead of “democratically preparing for a peaceful transition,” has decided to “persecut, arrest and assassinate” citizens who “have only demanded that their majority will be respected,” contrary to what the president claims, who blames the opposition for the deaths during the protests.

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