Former Venezuelan opposition candidate ordered to testify in court

CARACAS, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) — Former Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia has been summoned to testify in court regarding his alleged involvement in crimes related to the presidential elections, the prosecutors said on Saturday.
The Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office ordered Gonzalez, a member of the Unitary Platform coalition, to appear in court for questioning on Monday as part of a criminal investigation following the presidential elections held on July 28, the Venezuelan Public Ministry said via Instagram.
Gonzalez was held in contempt for failing to follow the orders of the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice during an electoral dispute filed by President Nicolas Maduro, the candidate of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.
Maduro received 5,150,092 valid votes in the elections, representing 51.2 percent of the votes, according to Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE).
Gonzalez received 4,445,978 votes, or 44.2 percent of the total votes, according to the CNE. ■