VENEZUELAN opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has refused to appear before the Supreme Tribunal of Justice for a hearing related to an election audit requested by President Nicolas Maduro.

On Monday the court ordered Mr Gonzalez, who represented the main opposition parties, Mr Maduro and the other eight candidates in the July 28 presidential election to attend hearings due to run until Friday.

The National Electoral Council has declared Mr Maduro the winner, but the opposition claims to have collected records from more than 80 per cent of the 30,000 electronic voting machines showing that he lost.

Its claims of fraud have been aggressively seconded by the United States, which has never accepted any of Mr Maduro’s election victories.

Posting on social media on Wednesday, Mr Gonzalez questioned their legality of the court proceedings and expressed concerns for his safety.

If he agreed to take part, it would “put at risk not only my freedom but, more importantly, the will of the Venezuelan people expressed on July 28,” he asserted.

Supreme Tribunal of Justice president Caryslia Rodriguez warned on Monday that failure to appear before the court would entail the corresponding consequences provided by law.