Ousted Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro loses bid to toss drug case as protesters clash outside NYC court
NY Post
Ousted Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s brazen bid to toss his drug-trafficking case was flatly denied Thursday — as lawyers warred over who would foot the tyrant’s legal bills.
The toppled strongman, 63, wearing a tan jail jumpsuit and black glasses and seated beside his co-defendant wife, Celia Flores, 69, who was also clad in prison-issue garb, calmly jotted down notes during his first court appearance since January, where he had defiantly claimed that the US military had “kidnapped’’ him.
The hearing unfolded inside a packed Manhattan federal courtroom, as crowds of dueling protesters clashed outside.
Maduro’s current attorney, Barry Pollack — known for helping WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange secure a favorable plea deal that allowed him to return to his home in Australia — made a longshot bid to toss the case on the grounds Maduro’s constitutional rights to put up a defense were being interfered with.
The request prompted Judge Alvin Hellerstein to flatly reply, “I’m not going to dismiss the case.”
During the hearing, Pollack stressed that US taxpayers would have to foot the bill if the Treasury Department continues to refuse to issue a special sanctions exemption that would enable Venezuala’s government to pay for his defense.
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