Venezuela opposition candidate faces arrest if he ignores third summons

Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, risks arrest if he fails to comply with a third summons to appear before prosecutors regarding last month's disputed presidential election. Gonzalez Urrutia, who claims victory, has already ignored two demands this week to present his case.

Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia faces an arrest warrant if he ignores a third demand to appear before prosecutors over the country's disputed presidential election, the latest summons said Thursday.

Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, ignored two prior demands to appear this week as part of a probe into his claim that he was the rightful victor of last month's presidential election.

President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of the election, but the opposition -- which had been leading in the polls -- cried foul, publishing its own voting records on a website appearing to show a convincing win for Gonzalez Urrutia.

The United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have refused to recognise Maduro as having won without seeing detailed voting results.

Gonzalez Urrutia, who became a last-minute candidate after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was banned from running in the July 28 election and backed him, has been in hiding for three weeks.

"Obviously he is not going to go. What are we talking about?" Machado told a news conference with Spanish media, referring to the summons.

The summonses have not specified in what capacity the retired diplomat Gonzalez Urrutia is to appear, as a defendant, witness or expert.

(AFP)

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