CARACAS: Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia faces an arrest warrant if he ignores a third summon to appear before prosecutors.
Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, ignored two earlier demands to appear this week as part of an investigation into his claim that he was the rightful victor of last month’s presidential polls.
The former diplomat, who became a last-minute candidate after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was barred from contesting the July 28 election and backed him, has been in hiding for past three weeks.
If Gonzalez Urrutia does not appear for the third summons on Friday, “it will be considered that we are in the presence of a flight risk… and a risk of obstruction … for which the corresponding arrest warrant will be issued,” the summons said.
The summonses have not mentioned in what capacity Gonzalez Urrutia is to appear, as a defendant, witness or expert. They have only said he will be interrogated as part of an investigation into forgery of public documents a crime that can theoretically lead to the maximum sentence of 30 years in jail.
He is also being investigated for computer crimes and instigation to disobedience of the law and.
President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of the election, but the opposition cried foul, and published its own voting records on a website showing a convincing win for Gonzalez Urrutia.
The United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have rejected to recognize Maduro as successful candidate without seeing detailed voting results.
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) has refused to publish its records, saying hackers had corrupted the data.
