Opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, the target of a criminal investigation after alleging fraud in the July 28 elections in Venezuela, is due to testify at the Public Prosecutor’s Office on Monday, an action he believes is being carried out “without guarantees” of respect for due process.
Gonzalez, who has been in hiding for three weeks, is not expected to attend the meeting at 10:00 a.m. local time (14:00 GMT) at the main headquarters of the Prosecutor’s Office in Caracas.
“The Attorney General of the Republic (Tarek William Saab) has repeatedly behaved like a political accuser. He condemns in advance and now he is promoting a summons without guarantees of independence and due process,” said this 74-year-old diplomat in a video on social media, claiming victory at the polls.
“The Public Prosecutor’s Office intends to subject me to an interview without specifying in what capacity I am expected to appear (accused, witness or expert according to Venezuelan law) and pre-qualifying crimes not committed,” continues González, who last appeared in public two days after the elections, at an opposition demonstration in the capital.
Threatened with jail by Maduro, who called him a “coward,” he has since limited himself to making statements via the Internet.
“He will have to face the consequences,” said prosecutor Saab on Friday, referring to González, whom he holds responsible, along with opposition leader María Corina Machado, for acts of violence in post-election protests that left 27 dead – two of them soldiers -, almost 200 wounded and more than 2,400 arrested.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed Maduro re-elected for a third six-year term, with 52% of the votes, without publishing the count table by table as required by law. It claims that its system was hacked.
The opposition claims that González Urrutia won with 67% of the votes, according to copies of the minutes that he published on the web and that the Chavistas describe as “forged.”
In response to an appeal by Maduro, the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) on Thursday upheld the results and accused González of “contempt” for refusing to attend the hearings. The opposition leader argued that he was “defenseless.”
30 years in prison?
González’s summons was announced on Saturday as part of an investigation into “usurpation of functions, forgery of public documents, incitement to disobedience of laws, computer crimes, criminal association and conspiracy,” according to a document released by the Prosecutor’s Office itself.
Lawyer Joel García, who defends imprisoned opponents, warns that “for this catalogue of crimes, the sentence could reach 30 years,” the maximum in the country.
García denounces “defects” in the summons, which calls González to “give an interview” without clarifying “in what capacity he is summoned.”
“It seems that he is accused (…). If so (…), he must appear accompanied by his defence. Then the accused goes to court and in a control court his defence is appointed and that is when he can appear,” the lawyer told AFP. “If not, anything he could declare would be null and void,” he added.
If a defendant fails to appear, the Prosecutor’s Office may request an arrest warrant from a court.
«Act kills sentence»
Machado called for protests next Wednesday. “A bill kills a sentence! That is why, when a month has passed since our glorious victory (…), we Venezuelans are once again in the streets,” she posted on social media.
The independence of the CNE and the TSJ is being questioned by a UN mission assessing the human rights situation in Venezuela. The United States, 10 Latin American countries and the head of European Union diplomacy, Josep Borrell, rejected the Supreme Court’s ruling.
In efforts to bring about a negotiation between Maduro and the opposition, the presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Colombia, Gustavo Petro, insisted in a joint statement that “disaggregated and verifiable” results must be published.
Lula and Petro had proposed a new election, an idea rejected by both parties.
The TSJ said in its ruling that the electoral material analyzed remains under its “safekeeping” and urged the CNE to publish “final results,” without requesting details for each table.
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