Venezuela issues arrest warrant for opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez

By Al Mayadeen English
3 Sep 2024 04:25

Edmundo Gonzalez is accused of conspiracy, sabotage, fraud, and incitement of violence and unrest.

Listen

Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez attends a campaign event before the election in Caracas, Venezuela, June 13, 2024. (AP)

Venezuela's attorney general's office has issued an arrest warrant against opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia under charges of conspiracy, corruption, sabotage, and fraud [forgery of official documents], according to Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Caracas.

Venezuelan prosecutors previously summoned Gonzalez three times to testify, however, all three summons were dismissed and ignored, building ground for an arrest warrant to be issued against the opposition leader.

Earlier in August, the Prosecutor’s Office launched a criminal investigation against Gonzalez Urrutia and fellow opposition leader Maria Corina Machado—who was barred from running—to determine their roles in crimes related to the "usurpation" of authority, spreading false information to incite unrest, encouraging disobedience of the law, incitement to insurrection, criminal conspiracy, and related offenses.

Both Machado and Urrutia were accused of challenging the election results and undermining electoral authorities by falsely declaring the winner of the presidential elections on an unofficial website, under a formula that contradicts the National Electoral Council.

In hearings before the Supreme Court’s Electoral Chamber, initiated by President Nicolas Maduro's challenge, the parties backing Gonzalez Urrutia's candidacy admitted they lacked the evidence to verify their claims of electoral fraud.

Attorney General Tarek Saab also underscored that Gonzalez Urrutia and other far-right figures bear responsibility for the 27 deaths and 129 injuries that occurred during the violent unrest on July 29 and 30.