ICC concerned that Venezuelan president, who remains in power due to possible fraud, is trying to silence dissent

The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor is closely following developments in Venezuela, where security forces are using ironclad rigor to silence opposition voices that are unwilling to accept Nicolás Maduro’s victory. Write AZ AP News.

According to the news agency, forces loyal to President Nicolas Maduro have so far detained more than 2,000 people for demonstrating against him and questioning the results of elections held on July 28. At least 24 people have died, according to MTI.

The office of Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, said in a statement that they are actively following events in Venezuela as they have received numerous reports of post-election violence and other allegations. The statement said that the International Prosecutor’s Office has contacted the Venezuelan government at the highest level to uphold the rule of law. They also stressed that all people should be protected from international crimes under the Rome Statute (the Rome Statute is the founding document of the International Criminal Court and defines the crimes over which the international criminal body has jurisdiction).

Meanwhile, Nicolás Maduro called on Venezuelans to report those who doubted the election results through a government app originally created to report blackouts. He also said there would be “no mercy” and that prisons were already being filled as the number of political prisoners was expected to rise. The president teased Venezuela over possible fraud and also raised the prospect that two leading opposition politicians, María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia, “should go to jail.”

Incidentally, the ICC Prosecutor’s Office has also been prosecuting Venezuela’s post-election violence in 2017 since 2021, but the agency has not yet issued an international arrest warrant. The office said it has launched an online portal where any person or organization can upload evidence in the case. The prosecutor’s statement also encourages anyone with relevant information and evidence to share it with the International Prosecutor’s Office without hesitation.

As we all know, according to official results, Nicolás Maduro received 5.15 million votes, or 51.2%, in the July 28 elections, ahead of the opposition United Democratic Alliance candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who earned 4.5 million votes (44, 02%). In fact, according to the opposition, Maduro could have easily won, with Eduardo González receiving 70% of the vote.

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