Opposition fails to produce evidence of election fraudCaracas begins investigation into fake news

Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice in Caracas. (Source: AP)

AP news agency quoted TSJ's announcement saying that despite receiving a summons, Mr. Edmundo González Urrutia did not appear in court.

The TSJ began hearings on August 7 for all 10 former candidates and representatives of 38 political parties that participated in the recent presidential election to push the court to "certify" the official results of the election, with the victory of incumbent President Nicolas Maduro.

Previously, on August 2, the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) announced the results of 96.87% of the votes, confirming that Mr. Maduro won with 51.95% of the votes. However, former opposition candidate Edmundo González declared that he did not recognize the above results.

Mr. Maduro filed a petition with the TSJ to certify the results of the presidential election that took place on July 28, and asked the court to summon all organizations to "compare all the evidence, with the participation of experts at the highest technical level related to the election results".

According to him, it is appropriate to summon candidates and political parties, as well as request the court to investigate the election process and related documents.

In a related development, on the same day, Reuters news agency reported that Venezuela's Public Ministry has initiated a criminal investigation into those involved in the irresponsible and reckless posting of fake documents related to the July 28 presidential election on a website with the aim of infringing on the functions of the CNE.

The Public Ministry, under the direction of Attorney General William Saab, said the charges included “infringement of official functions, forgery of official documents, incitement to disobey the law, computer crimes, association and conspiracy.”

The agency also stressed that it “will always be vigilant against any actions that threaten the peace and stability of the country.”