Venezuela prosecutors summon opposition candidate amid vote dispute
America
By
AFP
| Aug 25, 2024
Venezuelan prosecutors have summoned opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia for questioning Monday as part of a criminal investigation following the country's disputed presidential election claimed by strongman Nicolas Maduro.
"Citizen Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia" is summoned "on August 26 at 10 am for an interview," prosecutors said Saturday, as part of an investigation into the opposition's publishing of electoral records which it claims show Maduro was clearly defeated.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab, who is considered a Maduro ally, had foreshadowed the summoning Friday, saying Gonzalez Urrutia would have to explain his "disobedience" of the authorities.
Saab said the opposition's website, by posting what it said were authentic election results, had "usurped" the powers of the official CNE electoral council.
The CNE, which declared Maduro the winner of the July 28 election with 52 per cent of votes cast, is also seen as friendly to Maduro, but it has refused to publish detailed results, claiming cyber-hackers had corrupted the data.
READ MORE
Big win for Ruto as court clears path for sale of key State firms
Kenya Army, KPA and Equity win as league second leg gets underway
Privatisation Act 2025 is constitutional, High Court rules
Exam cancellation: 22 former Karega Secondary School candidates yet to get 2025 KCSE results
Treasury says country's debt is sustainable
Nandi Bear: Reclaiming the forgotten heroes in Kenya's freedom struggle
Minority investors win bigger say in KenGen Board shake-up
Athletics stars set for a tough battle for honors at Sirikwa Classic
Report ranks Kenya's corruption fight among the worst globally
Kidney transplant survivor triumphs over disease to top KCSE against odds
Maduro has called for the arrest of Gonzalez Urrutia, who has not been seen in public since he led an opposition march on July 30.
The United States, the European Union, several Latin American countries and multilateral bodies have refused to recognize Maduro's victory claim without seeing the detailed results.
Protests in the hours following the vote left 25 people dead, nearly 200 injured and more than 2,400 under arrest.