Venezuelan judge issues arrest warrant for opposition's former presidential candidate

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00:00Charged with conspiracy, falsifying documents and usurping powers, Venezuela's main opposition

00:06figure, the country's elected president in the eyes of many, is now a wanted man, to

00:11the delight of self-proclaimed President Nicolás Maduro.

00:15This cowardly man, Gonzalo Zerrutia, he doesn't recognise the law, he recognises nothing.

00:22In hiding since the presidential elections of late July, which he and his supporters

00:26believe he won, authorities requested the warrant after he ignored three summonses

00:31to answer prosecutors' questions.

00:34Tally sheets of votes, produced automatically by polling machines, were not published by

00:38the National Electoral Council as they usually would be, as the body claimed it had been

00:42subject to a hack, but they nevertheless proclaimed the incumbent victorious.

00:48Since, Maduro's camp have ignored pressure to publish their copies of the tally sheets,

00:55a move that drew mass protests and international condemnation, while the opposition obtained

01:01and published sheets from 80% of machines, which showed their candidate some distance

01:06ahead of the incumbent.

01:08Edmundo González became candidate for the presidency after main opposition leader María

01:13Corina Machado was deemed ineligible by a court ruling and the second choice was prevented

01:18from registering.

01:20Machado was quick to condemn the new arrest warrant.

01:24Maduro has lost all touch with reality.

01:26The arrest warrant issued by the regime to threaten president-elect Edmundo González

01:31crosses a new line that only strengthens the resolve of our movement.

01:34Venezuelans and democracies around the world are more united than ever in our quest for

01:38freedom.

01:39The United States are among those refusing to recognise Maduro's victory.

01:45And on Monday in the Dominican Republic, authorities seized the luxury private jet used by him

01:50and his inner circle, citing a sanctions violation.

01:54The self-proclaimed president said the move was nothing short of piracy.

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