Venezuela's Maduro asserts immunity, urges US judge to dismiss charges
Maduro’s lawyers say the indictment cannot stand because foreign heads of state are immune from U.S. criminal prosecution, and Flores also claims sovereign immunity.
- Former Venezuelan President Maduro and Cilia Flores filed motions in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday requesting dismissal of their drug trafficking indictments, asserting sovereign immunity as a foreign leader and first lady.
- Federal forces seized the pair from their Caracas home in early January, bringing them to New York to face charges in a criminal case first brought six years ago against alleged co-conspirators.
- Attorneys argued that heads of state are exempt from criminal process, stating: "No American court has ever presided over the criminal trial of a foreign leader who was recognized by their own country as the sitting head of state."
- Judge Alvin Hellerstein scheduled oral arguments for Nov. 17 on the dismissal motions, with the couple facing potential life sentences if convicted of cocaine conspiracy charges.
- Posting from prison via Telegram on Sunday, Maduro claimed he was "standing firm," while his lawyers asserted he "vehemently denies the allegations against him" and has been "falsely accused.
138 Articles
138 Articles
Nicolas Maduro contests the American requisitor in court in the file in which he is accused of narcotics and drug trafficking. By his lawyers, the former leader of Caracas claims that the American authorities cannot prosecute him for alleged acts committed in the exercise of his office.
Nicolás Maduro and Wife Seek Dismissal of U.S. Drug Trafficking Indictment on Immunity Grounds
Internewscast Journal Internewscast New York — Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s former president, and his wife urged… This Post: Nicolás Maduro and Wife Seek Dismissal of U.S. Drug Trafficking Indictment on Immunity Grounds first appeared on Internewscast Journal
Lawyers for former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have called for his trial to be halted, insisting that he enjoys "judicial immunity" as the head of an independent state.
Maduro, wife seek dismissal of drug trafficking indictment on immunity grounds
Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife asked a judge to toss their drug trafficking indictment on the grounds that they have immunity as the leader and first lady of a foreign country.
Former Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro of the United States, detained in one of her prisons, placed before a legal test a demand that an American indictment for drug smuggling, based on sovereign immunity, be dropped.
Maduro and his wife are seeking to have their US drug charges dropped, citing the head of state's immunity and international law.
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