The defense of opposition leader and former presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia said on Thursday (5) that the criminal proceedings filed by the Venezuelan Public Ministry against him aim to “take him out of the political game” in the country.
The objective, according to Urrutia’s lawyer, José Vicente Haro, is to ensure that he “cannot assert the results reflected in the voting records” released by the largest opposition coalition to the regime of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, which is based on these documents to contest the official result of the current president’s victory in the July presidential elections and credit it to the opponent.
Urrutia, one of the leaders of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), began to be investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office after the publication on a website by this coalition of “83.5% of the minutes”, which were allegedly obtained by witnesses and polling station employees.
Maduro was proclaimed the winner of the election by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which did not present the minutes, as required by the country’s rules.
Haro claimed that these minutes obtained by the PUD are “authentic and reliable” and that it would have been “a mistake” on González Urrutia’s part if he had appeared at any of the three summons made by the MP to testify, since he considers that his client “does not have sufficient constitutional guarantees to go” to the institution.
The lawyer said that Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab “has practically already condemned him” because “not only has he classified him as a perpetrator of crimes, but he has also condemned him for acts for which he bears no responsibility whatsoever.”
“What they want is to put him in a situation of deprivation of liberty, and that is the entire signal that is being given, to then disregard his rights and prevent him from exercising his political rights,” he added.
González Urrutia, who he considers a “politically persecuted person”, will remain “in custody”, despite the arrest warrant issued against him after failing to appear at these three summons from the MP.
“All situations of risk are present at this time, because, unfortunately, in Venezuela we do not have the rule of law, we do not have the rule of justice, there is a situation of systematic violation of human rights,” he said.
Saab said on Thursday that the arrest warrant and investigation against the former presidential candidate, accused of usurpation of functions, falsification of public documents, instigation to disobey the law, conspiracy, sabotage to damage systems and association (to commit crimes), remain in force.
The main leader of the PUD, María Corina Machado, González Urrutia’s main supporter, took responsibility for publishing these minutes on the internet, which, according to her, prove Maduro’s “resounding defeat”.
Also on Thursday, Machado stated that the head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, an ally of the dictator, “is one of the arms of persecution of Chavismo and terrorism in Venezuela.” (With EFE Agency)
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