A Venezuelan court issued an arrest warrant for former presidential candidate Edmundo González on Monday following a criminal investigation into the disputed presidential election.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office requested the arrest warrant following González refusal to answer questions surrounding the publication of election results. González is accused of several crimes including usurpation of functions, forgery of public documents, incitement to disobedience of laws, conspiracy, and association to commit crimes against the Venezuelan state. The request comes just weeks after the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the Supreme Justice Tribunal confirmed Nicolás Maduro as President for a third term following the July 28 election.

The result of the presidential election, in which Maduro and González claimed victory, was heavily contested, with González and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado rejecting the court’s ruling and raising serious concerns about the election’s integrity. As a result, Attorney General Tarek Saab initiated a criminal investigation into González and Machado for claiming victory in the election and creating a website to publish tally sheets from over 80 percent of the 30,000 voting machines, asserting that the election was fraudulent.

Opposition leader Machado responded to the arrest warrant in a statement on Monday, stating that “Maduro has lost all touch with reality. The arrest warrant issued by the regime to threaten President-Elect Edmundo González crosses a new line that only strengthens the resolve of our movement.”

The Plataforma Unitaria Democrática (Democratic Unitary Platform), the opposition political alliance González represented in the election, issued a statement rejecting the “invalid” arrest warrant and the political persecution of González. The alliance further noted

“Venezuelans and the world look with indignation at a regime that, while unable to publish even a single document within the legally required timeframe to support the fraudulent result announced by the CNE, is capable of issuing an arrest warrant against the winner of the presidential election within minutes.”

The contentious election results have spurred mass protests both in Venezuela and globally, leading to over 2,400 arrests. Recently, a United Nations Panel of Experts addressed the CNE’s conduct surrounding the election results, citing a lack of transparency. A UN fact-finding mission has also demanded an investigation into the deaths of protesters and the immediate release of individuals held arbitrarily. Additionally, the United States Department of State issued a statement calling for a “return to the respect of human rights and democratic norms in Venezuela.”