MP refuses to accept a letter in defense of Edmundo González

The Public Ministry on Wednesday refused to accept a document that the defense of opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia hoped to deliver with explanations of the The anti-Chavez politician’s failure to attend the three summons issued as part of an investigation against himdenounced his lawyer, José Vicente Haro.

In front of the MP, in Caracas, the lawyer assured that they did not accept the document, in which, as he said before entering the fiscal headquarters, “All the constitutional and legal reasons” for which González Urrutia did not appear in response to the summons are indicatedsuch as the “degree of defenselessness in which one finds oneself”, among others, due to the prequalification of crimes.

The MP accuses the opposition member – against whom there is an arrest warrant – of “usurpation of functions”, “forgery of public documents”, “instigation to disobedience of laws”, “conspiracy”, “sabotage to damage systems and association (to commit a crime)”, according to the summons published by the prosecutor’s office on social networks.

Haro explained that, in a summons, “crimes should not be pre-qualified,” which, furthermore, “is not proper for an action by the Public Prosecutor’s Office,” but rather “a court when the investigation is already advanced.”

In this regard, he denounced the violation of the right to “the presumption of innocence” of the opposition leader, who “has been charged with crimes” based on an investigation that “was recently announced,” and of “the constitutional guarantees of due process,” by not indicating “the character in which” he was summoned.

He also called on the Attorney General’s Office to “due compliance with the Constitution” and “not to attempt to prosecute or criminalize acts or considerations of a political nature.”

Investigation against Edmundo Gonzalez

File photo dated May 18, 2024 of the presidential candidate of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), Edmundo González Urrutia, Photo EFE/ Rayner Pena

The investigation against González Urrutia is related to the publication of a website, in which the anti-Chavez supporters claim to have uploaded “83.5% of the electoral records” collected by witnesses and members of the table on the night of the election, to support their claim of fraud in the presidential elections of July 28.

The PUD released these records, which the Executive calls “false,” after the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Nicolás Maduro the winner of the elections, which has been questioned by numerous countries, some of which support that González Urrutia won by a wide margin.