The Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab, reported this Monday on the preliminary progress of the investigation that is being carried out following the attacks against the data transmission system of the National Electoral Council (CNE), on Sunday, July 28, in the context of the presidential elections.
In this regard, he said that the attack was intended to manipulate the data that was being received by the CNE. “Fortunately, this action was not successful, but it slowed down the process and the announcement of the results. They wanted to adulterate the records,” he said, specifying that the 38th and 74th National Prosecutors were appointed for the investigation.
Regarding those involved in the attack, Saab indicated that the main suspects are Lester Toledo, a fugitive from justice who is abroad; Leopoldo López, also a fugitive from Venezuelan justice, and María Corina Machado.
“Prosecutors are gathering evidence of these actions that attempted to tamper with the results,” he said.
The prosecutor linked the attempt to alter the CNE results with the holding of the primaries of a sector of the opposition last October, which did not have verification mechanisms or auditing.
In this regard, he said that “Jesús María Casal himself told us that no more than 350 thousand people participated, however, Súmate, which was the one who organized them, reported that 2.4 million people participated.”
“These results were denounced as false by the opposition itself, which is active in the National Assembly, and by the member of the Technical Commission for the Primaries, Nelson Rampersad,” he continued.
The prosecutor recalled the proposal of technical assistance from the Electoral Power to this process, which was rejected by the National Primary Commission.
Incidents in the elections
The prosecutor also reported that 60 incidents were recorded during the electoral process and 17 arrests were made.
The most notable cases are the following:
In Zulia: a group of people destroyed property and buildings of the CDI “Río Negro” in the Río Negro Parish, Machíques de Perijá municipality, and burned voting machines. Three individuals identified by the community were arrested.
In that same entity, Yeissel Pérez, a deputy of the Legislative Council of the State of Zulia, was identified as the instigator of a violent protest at the UE Monseñor Helimenas Añez Voting Center in the municipality of Maracaibo, where they knocked down a fence and attacked two officials.
In Trujillo, Aura Guerra, María Batista, Isaac Quevedo and Diego Urbina were arrested for attempting to close the Electoral Center with chains and insulting officials.
In Carabobo, Juan Rodríguez and Exar Castillo were arrested after inciting violence and attacking security officials.
In Caracas, Douglas García and Jorge Salcedo were identified as those responsible for violent actions at the Andrés Bello High School in the La Candelaria parish.
It was also learned that citizen Deivi Israel Correa Bracoviche, known as “Deivi Correa” on social media, called for people to take to the streets to reject the election results.
For the prosecutor, there are few incidents, if one takes into account the fact that the elections were held in 15,797 polling stations, with 30,026 voting machines. “These minimal incidents speak well of the Venezuelan voter,” he said.
Saab, who congratulated the Venezuelan people for their behavior during the election day, read a statement from the Public Ministry.
Below is the full text:
The Public Prosecutor’s Office salutes the Venezuelan people for their demonstration of civility, their democratic spirit and their peaceful vocation. The National Electoral Council, as the constitutional entity in charge of carrying out electoral events, has issued the official results that declare the candidate Nicolás Maduro Moros, current president and candidate for reelection, the winner.
Faced with this example of the Venezuelan people, we must reject the attempts at interference and the reckless statements made by a few Latin American governments that have attempted to set themselves up as guardians of Venezuelan democracy, in a shameful re-edition of the nefarious Lima Group, which disappeared with shame and without glory from the international scene, while the presidents who were part of it are today repudiated by their own people.
Yesterday, the people decided and celebrated in peace, beginning a new cycle in Venezuela. However, there were attempts to sabotage the electoral process, not only through fake news on social media, but also with concrete actions of aggression against the electrical system, first, and during the election day.
A cyber attack was detected against the CNE’s data transmission system, which slowed down the sending of votes for the national vote count. In this regard, we have opened an investigation and have appointed the 38th and 74th National Prosecutors, who are in charge of carrying out the relevant expert reports to find those responsible.
We have also seen with concern the failure of a radical sector with a long history of calls for violence to acknowledge the result.
In defense of peace, we inform that our institution will be monitoring any act that attempts to initiate an escalation of violence to tarnish the democratic celebration that we have experienced.
We note that acts of violence and calls to ignore official results may be classified as crimes of public incitement (art. 285 of the Penal Code). With a sentence of 3 to 6 years in prison. Obstruction of public roads (art. 357, first section of the Penal Code). With a sentence of 6 to 10 years in prison. Incitement to hatred (art. 20 of the Special Law against Hatred). With a sentence of 10 to 20 years. Resistance to authority (art. 218 of the Penal Code). With a sentence of 1 to 2 years in prison.
After this historic day, the country must move towards peaceful development, reconciliation and the search for consensus. This will allow us to overcome the serious consequences of the aggression that our country has suffered in the form of unilateral coercive measures and theft of assets.
We call on the population not to allow themselves to be used in destabilizing agendas that respond to petty interests alien to the national interest, which seek chaos, unrest and suffering for the majority of our people.
We congratulate President Nicolás Maduro Moros for his victory; Plan República for its impeccable work and the National Electoral Council for organizing and executing exemplary elections.
