Venezuela's prosecutor issues second summons against opposition leader after controversial presidential election – JURIST

Venezuelan prosecutors on Monday sent a second summons to opposition leader Edmundo González, asking him to question him about an opposition website that published detailed results from last month's disputed presidential election.

The website reportedly provided the public with detailed election results that showed an uncontested victory in Gonzalez's favor. The election results displayed on the website were consistent with the predicted election results, as earlier polls had pointed to a possible landslide victory for Gonzalez. However, the National Electoral Council released results that showed incumbent President Nicolas Maduro received 52 percent of the vote, although it refused to publish evidence to support the validity of these claims. The results were widely contested by governments and human rights organizations, which raised alarm ahead of the election about the precarious nature of electoral law in Venezuela.

Rallies continue to take place in the state, with civilians either supporting or opposing Maduro's government, which is now entering a third six-year term. Numerous states continue to reiterate their recognition of Gonzalez as the winner of the July elections and call on Maduro's government to release ballots to allow for an independent verification of the election results.

Gonzalez has been in hiding since the election, as Maduro has repeatedly threatened to have him arrested. The politician recently responded to the controversy, including by denying the impartiality of the election result in a video uploaded to his X account last week. Prosecutors had previously issued a first subpoena requesting questioning of the politician regarding the website, claiming that providing such information through the website could amount to cybercrime, forgery and conspiracy. Gonzalez refused to comply with the first subpoena and has not yet responded to the most recent one.