Pallade Veneta - Maduro poll rival faces jail if he ignores third summons

Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, ignored two prior demands to appear this week as part of a probe into his claim that he was the rightful victor of last month's presidential election.

The retired former diplomat, who became a last-minute candidate after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was banned from running in the July 28 election and backed him, has been in hiding for three weeks.

If Gonzalez Urrutia does not appear for the third summons on Friday, "it will be considered that we are in the presence of a flight risk... and a risk of obstruction ... for which the corresponding arrest warrant will be issued," the summons warned.

The summonses have not specified in what capacity Gonzalez Urrutia is to appear, as a defendant, witness or expert.

They have only mentioned he will be interrogated as part of an investigation into "usurpation of functions" and "forgery of public documents", crimes that can theoretically lead to the maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

He is also being investigated for "instigation to disobedience of the law" and "computer crimes".

President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of the election, but the opposition -- which had been leading in the polls -- cried foul, publishing its own voting records on a website appearing to show a convincing win for Gonzalez Urrutia.

The United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have refused to recognize Maduro as having won without seeing detailed voting results.

Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) has declined to publish its records, claiming hackers had corrupted the data.

Election observers have said there was no evidence of the purported cyberattack.

T.Galgano--PV