Venezuela’s attorney general’s office said Monday (02) that a court has issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Edmundo González, accusing him of incitement and other crimes amid a dispute over whether he or President Nicolas Maduro won July’s election.
Attorney General Tarek Saab shared a photo of the warrant with Reuters via a message on the Telegram app.
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council and its top court have declared Maduro the winner of the election with just over half the vote, but tallies published by the opposition show a resounding victory for González.
The opposition, some Western countries and international bodies such as a United Nations panel of experts said the vote was not transparent and demanded the publication of the full results.
The opposition has published what it says are copies of more than 80% of the ballot results on a public website, while the electoral council says a cyberattack on election night prevented the publication of full results.
Attorney General Tarek Saab also launched criminal investigations into opposition leader María Corina Machado and the opposition vote-counting website, while arrests of opposition figures and protesters continued in the weeks following the vote.
The protests resulted in at least 27 deaths and around 2,400 arrests.
Accusations
Prosecutor Luis Ernesto Duenez requested that a warrant be issued for González for usurpation of office, falsification of public documents, instigation to disobey the law, conspiracy and association, all allegedly committed against the Venezuelan state.
A spokesman for Gonzalez said they were awaiting any notification of a warrant but had no further comment. The opposition has always denied any wrongdoing.
González ignored three subpoenas to testify about the website, potentially allowing a warrant to be issued for him in that case.
Lawyers consulted by Reuters said Venezuelan law does not allow people over 70 to serve prison sentences, requiring house arrest. Gonzalez turned 75 last week.
