The former presidential candidate of the far right, Edmundo González Urrutia, is out of place by not attending the summons issued by the Public Ministry, pretending to be above the rest of the citizens, said the Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab.
In statements regarding the meeting held last Wednesday with the lawyer Vicente Haro, legal representative of the former candidate González Urrutia, Saab specified that the former candidate “explains and contradicts himself” as to why he did not appear at the three summons issued by the Public Ministry.
He indicated that the institution he presides has the power to summon any Venezuelan and that whoever wrote the letter “harmed you, it becomes an aggravating factor, since he declares himself as a judge, does his own justice and finally rules that you are innocent. The most serious thing is that he says that he will continue to be in contempt.”
According to the prosecutor, the letter sent explaining the reasons for his absence sets a negative precedent, since “there is a sector that believes itself above the law and seeks to place itself above the rest of Venezuelan citizens.”
However, the highest representative of the Public Ministry indicated that in the meeting they recognized the institutionality of the entity he presides, adding that he regrets having had to give a class on Criminal Law I to “people who call themselves jurists, constitutional advisors.”
“The Public Prosecutor’s Office has the power, as does the Attorney General, to initiate an investigation and, based on that, interview the people they consider to provide information, either as a witness or as an indictee (…) . Where they graduated, in which pre-school they studied law,” he said.
He said that the summons were issued based on the provisions of the Constitution and the Organic Code of Criminal Procedure (COPP).
“We told them this at the meeting,” he said, adding that by refusing to attend they were obstructing the investigation.
He recalled that González Urrutia had distributed a link to a website that was “illegal, since it gave fraudulent results.”
He referred to the fact that in other countries, former presidents have had to respond to cases brought by their respective Public Prosecutors’ Offices, and gave the example of Donald Trump, who had to attend several summons issued by the American justice system.
However, “González Urrutia considers himself supra-terrestrial and decides not to attend the summons,” said Saab, while pointing out that whoever wrote the letter sent him did him a disservice.
In response to this, he asked what immunity he could have, “and 99 percent of citizens do not have it. If you do not appear when summoned, then you must be required to appear before the courts.”
He added that during the meeting, lawyer José Vicente Haro advised his client, urging him to go to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, “but he says that people outside the legal team did not allow him, they pressured him not to come.”
He even pointed out that he wanted to go to the TSJ, but “extremist people who have used him without restraint told him not to go, these are revealing details.”
“The country’s institutions nominally recognize communication, but they must also do so in practice,” he said.
He added that the legal representative told him that he would take all the necessary steps to ensure that he attends the summons and becomes responsible.
“We have been clear enough about everything that has happened,” he said.
He said that those in custody are revealing everything that happened in the days after the elections when the violence broke out.
He stressed that there was never an agreement regarding not “visiting the home” of the former candidate’s wife, since that “never existed” nor was there the possibility of “investigating the wife of Edmundo González.”
Current arrest warrant
The former candidate is in “contumacy and the arrest warrant is in force,” the prosecutor replied to a journalist’s question, specifying that it is necessary for him to attend and answer the questions asked of him in relation to the interview.
“In the letter he says that he has nothing to do with that page, because he knows that that page is a scam, (…) then why did he spread it, why did he publish it? That is why they now say that the minutes should not be discussed,” explained Saab.
He believes that it is time to heal wounds, to stop impunity, to promote citizen coexistence and that therefore “Venezuela emerges stronger.”
