VENEZUELA’S Supreme Court ratified on Thursday President Nicolas Maduro’s presidential election victory. 

The court also confirmed that the voting tallies published online showing he lost the July 28 election by a landslide were forged.

Its decision, read at an event attended by senior officials and foreign diplomats, came in response to a request by President Maduro to review vote totals showing he had won by more than one million votes.

The main opposition coalition, led by the United States-backed Edmundo Gonzales, has accused Mr Maduro of stealing the vote.

Mr Gonzales claims that he won the election by a more than two to one margin.

Mr Gonzalez was the only one of 10 candidates who did not participate in the Supreme Court’s audit, a fact noted by the justices, who in their ruling accused him of trying to spread panic.

The court ruled that the non attendance of Mr Gonzales was a contempt of the court.

Reading the ruling Judge Caryslia Beatriz Rodriguez said that the country had been the subject of an attempted coup and a large-scale cyber attack.

The government has claimed that a foreign cyberattack staged by hackers from North Macedonia delayed the vote counting on election night and publication of the disaggregated results.