Countries condemn the arrest warrant against Edmundo González

Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay rejected the Arrest warrant issued by a court with jurisdiction over terrorism against Edmundo González Urrutiawho was a candidate in the last presidential elections in Venezuela, the result of which was announced by the National Electoral Council and was rejected by the majority opposition and a large part of the international community.

«We unequivocally and absolutely reject the arrest warrant issued by the Judge of the First Special Court of the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela against Mr. Edmundo González, opposition presidential candidate in the last electoral process of July 28, 2024,” these seven countries indicated in a joint statement.

They assured that “said arrest warrant cites several alleged crimes that They are nothing more than another attempt to silence Mr. Gonzalez.ignores the popular will of Venezuela, and constitutes political persecution.”

“In a country where there is no separation of powers or minimum judicial guarantees and where arbitrary arrests abound, we condemn these dictatorial practices and our efforts will be firm and continuous to demand that the Venezuelan authorities guarantee the life, integrity and freedom of Edmundo González Urrutia,” they said.

Arrest warrant against Edmundo Gonzalez

The Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested a court with jurisdiction over terrorism to issue an arrest warrant against González Urrutia for alleged crimes related to the elections, including “disobedience of laws”, “conspiracy”, “usurpation of functions” and “sabotage”.

González Urrutia, 75 years old, was summoned to testify before the Prosecutor’s Office on three occasions. He did not attend, although the third summons coincided with a power outage throughout the country on Friday, August 30.

The diplomat, who has been in hiding since July 30, argued that the Public Prosecutor’s Office was acting as a “political accuser” who would subject him to a trial “without guarantees of independence and due process.”

The subpoenas targeted the website where the opposition posted copies of more than 80% of the voting records, which it claims prove González Urrutia’s victory on July 28 and Maduro’s fraud.