Just over a month after Venezuela’s highly controversial presidential election, the judiciary issued an arrest warrant for the opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who is in hiding. The investigation agency requested it in a letter published on Monday in online networks to a judge responsible for “terrorism,” and he complied with the request shortly after, the Public Prosecutor’s Office said.
The 75-year-old González Urrutia is accused of usurping his office, falsifying documents and connections with donors of ‘terrorism’. The Public Prosecutor’s Office had already threatened on Friday with an arrest warrant for González Urrutia if he ignored his third summons for questioning. Urrutia did not show up for the appointment.
González Urrutia allegedly published false election results
The authority justified the summonses by citing the publication of allegedly false results of the July 28 presidential election – and thus also justified the arrest warrant now issued.
The election is considered controversial
After Venezuela’s elections, which were also highly controversial internationally, the electoral commission, which was largely loyal to the government, declared the incumbent Nicolás Maduro the winner. However, the opposition is confident in its candidate’s victory and has published results to prove it. González Urrutia last appeared in public two days after the elections and then went into hiding.
Protests against Maduro’s re-election left 27 people dead and another 192 injured. Official figures say 2,400 people were arrested. Maduro also blames his opponent Urrutia and opposition politician Maria Corina Machado for the violence during the protests.
The request for the arrest warrant came just hours after the U.S. government seized a plane belonging to Maduro in the Dominican Republic.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
