The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Madurosaid this Monday that the standard-bearer of the majority opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutiawho is the subject of an arrest warrant issued today, “pretends to be above the law.”
“He claims to be above the law (…) this cowardly Mr. González Urrutia has the nerve to say that he does not recognize laws, that he does not recognize anything, that is unacceptable”the president said during his weekly television program.
The statement was made in parallel with the release of the arrest warrant issued by a court specializing in terrorism against the anti-Chavez activist, accused of allegedly committing the crimes of “usurpation of functions,” “forgery of public documents,” “instigation to disobedience of laws,” “conspiracy,” “sabotage to damage systems and association (to commit a crime).”
Although Maduro did not refer to the arrest warrant, he reiterated that the opponent is “hidden”in reference to González Urrutia’s decision to remain “under protection” due to repeated threats of arrest following the presidential elections of July 28, for not recognizing the official result, in which Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has asked the courts to issue an arrest warrant for the anti-Chavez activist after he failed to respond to three summonses, in which they expected him to make a statement in the context of an investigation against him related to the fraud complaint he made regarding the presidential elections.
Publication of minutes
The investigation is related to the publication of a website on 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 to reinforce its claim that González Urrutia won the election by a wide margin.
The PUD released these minutes, which the Executive calls “false,” after the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Maduro the winner of the elections, which has been questioned by numerous countries, some of which support González Urrutia winning the Presidency. EFE
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