González responds to a summons from the Prosecutor’s Office: “There are no guarantees”
The leader of Venezuela’s majority opposition, Edmundo González Urrutia, said on Sunday that the summons from the Public Prosecutor’s Office to appear this Monday, as part of an investigation into alleged “conspiracy” and other crimes, lacks “guarantees of independence and due process.”
In a video posted on social media, the leader of the main opposition coalition – the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) – expressed that The MP intends to submit the person to an interview without specifying the condition in which he is expected to appear and pre-qualifying crimes not committed“, although he did not confirm his attendance.
According to the summons, he is due to appear on Monday at 10:00 local time (14:00 GMT), as part of an investigation into the “alleged commission of the crimes of usurpation of functions, forgery of public documents, incitement to disobedience of the law, computer crimes, criminal association and conspiracy.”
Edmundo González, who claims to have won the presidential elections on July 28, despite the fact that the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner, said in the video that the attorney general, Tarek William Saab, “He has repeatedly behaved like a political accuser”since -he asserted- “it condemns in advance and now promotes a summons without guarantees of independence and due process.”
In his message, the former ambassador urged Maduro to “understand, for once, that the solution is not in repression, but in the international, independent and reliable verification of the records, which cannot be replaced by a sentence issued outside the Constitution,” in reference to the ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) which validates the reelection of the Chavista.
“In this scenario, we will present our copies of the voting records that clearly show the Venezuelan people’s desire for change. The truth about what happened on July 28 is what will save democratic institutions,” he said.
Demand for publication of electoral records
The opposition leader demanded that the authorities, for the sake of “peace and the well-being of the country,” publish the minutes and respect “the popular will expressed in the elections of July 28, which largely favored the political change represented” by his candidacy.
He also reiterated that the opposition he leads is in favor of “the search for formulas that, with strict submission to popular sovereignty, allow for an orderly, peaceful transition with guarantees for all.”
«Venezuela is experiencing hours of uncertainty and unrest, “as a result of your efforts to violate the will for change,” he added in the video.
The Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the website where the opposition coalition claims to have published “83.5% of the minutes” of the presidential elections, which, according to this anti-Chavez sector, show González Urrutia’s victory.
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