The lawyer for Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez said Wednesday that the attorney general’s office had not formally received a letter explaining his failure to respond to three subpoenas. for an investigation into the website where the opposition published copies of the counted votes from the July election.
Lawyer José Vicente Haro told reporters outside the Prosecutor’s Office that he was told the system was not working and that he should return in the afternoon to deliver the document.On Monday, a court issued an arrest warrant against Gonzalez for allegedly committing crimes including usurpation of functions, falsification of public documents and conspiracy, among others.
The subpoena was based on a related case: an investigation into a website where the opposition posted copies of vote counts from the disputed July 28 presidential election. and which led to mass protests and arrests, including of political leaders.
Venezuela’s electoral authority and the highest court They said President Nicolás Maduro won the election with just over half the votes, but opposition tallies show a victory for González.
The opposition, some Western countries and international bodies such as a United Nations panel of experts have said the vote was not transparent. and demanded the publication of full counts, with some openly denouncing fraud.
Many countries, including the United States, also criticized Gonzalez’s arrest order, which followed weeks of comments by senior government officials that he and other opposition members should be jailed.
The governments of Brazil and Colombia expressed their deep concern about the arrest warrant in a joint statement on Tuesday evening.Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said the presidents of Colombia, Brazil and Mexico could speak with Maduro to express their position.
Haro said he waited almost two hours, was told that his document could not be received because they did not have the authorization to receive it and was later assured that the system was down, although the lawyer indicated that he saw other documents being accepted.
He added that he was asked to return in the afternoon and that the copy of the document he had tried to deliver was not returned to him.
“This is the type of situation for which Mr. Edmundo González Urrutia did not appear at the summons that was issued to him,” Haro said. “We are trying to defend ourselves, but you have already seen the difficulties that have arisen.” The Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Haro’s statements.
