New York/The deposed Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, defended their innocence against the new accusation from the Prosecutor’s Office of the United States during a hearing before federal judge Alvin Hellerstein, which concluded with the postponement of the trial to June 14, 2027.
Maduro and Flores appeared in the Southern District Court of New York a week after the Prosecutor’s Office toughened its accusation, accusing them of conspiracy to commit torture and expanding the charge of narcoterrorism to both, which previously only fell on the deposed leader.
The Venezuelan pleaded not guilty to the new charges, as he did with the previous ones, and assured the judge that the accusation is based on “false accusations and testimony against him.”
Maduro assured the judge that the accusation is based on “false accusations and testimony against him”
“They are a sum of elements and attacks that I already knew about in the past,” he added.
His wife, who has maintained a more discreet stance in all the hearings, limited herself to declaring herself “completely innocent” and “not guilty” of the new charges.
This session, which lasted just over thirty minutes, was one of the few times in which they could be heard speaking since they were presented before US justice last January after their arrest in Venezuela and subsequent transfer to New York.
Both assured the judge that they had been informed by their lawyers of the new accusation and that they had received a copy of it in Spanish. According to Maduro, his lawyers explained to him “yesterday” the new accusation of conspiracy to commit torture.
Although a little more relaxed than in January, Maduro remained defiant against the US accusation.
Ten months ago, at his previous arraignment, he claimed to be a “prisoner of war” as a result of his arrest, which he described as a “military intervention.”
After listening to the accused, the hearing, which started half an hour late, focused on the calendar prior to the start of the trial, which Hellerstein postponed from June 1, 2027 to June 14.
Pollack asked the judge for more time to prepare motions for the new charges and to move forward with his claim of sovereign immunity.
The Prosecutor’s Office delivered a proposal to the judge who had previously worked with the defense, according to Barry Pollack, one of Maduro’s lawyers.
Hellerstein, 91, showed difficulty speaking at times and caused long silences while he considered the proposal.
Pollack asked the magistrate for more time to prepare the motions for the new charges presented and to move forward with his claim of sovereign immunity, with which they seek to exempt Maduro from the charges against him.
The next hearing will take place in mid-December.
Upon entering the courtroom on the 26th floor of the federal court, Maduro appeared with a relaxed attitude and good physical appearance. He greeted the public and the press and hugged his and his wife’s lawyers.
Flores, who did so in second place, greeted his lawyers smilingly but maintained a lower profile.
Both entered escorted by bailiffs, dressed in the khaki jumpsuits in which they have been seen since they were in the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn.
At all times, they followed the course of the hearing attentively through the headphones through which they received the transcription in Spanish.
At all times, they followed the course of the hearing attentively through the headphones through which they received the transcription in Spanish.
Following the new accusation, Maduro and Flores are charged with conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, possession and conspiracy to possess destructive weapons, as well as conspiracy to commit torture.
In its latest writing, the Prosecutor’s Office accuses the Venezuelan couple of conspiring to distribute and possess cocaine with the intention of distributing it and providing “something of economic value” to people or organizations related to “terrorist activities.”
Among them, they point out alleged cooperation with organizations designated by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations such as the FARC, some of its factions, the Aragua Train or the Sinaloa Cartel.
