US judge weighs Trump decision to bar Venezuelan funds for Maduro’s defence
Al Jazeera
Judge Hellerstein declined to dismiss the case against Maduro but questioned US prosecutors about his access to defence.
A United States judge has said that he will not dismiss the drug-trafficking and weapons possession charges brought against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
But in a Thursday court hearing, Judge Alvin Hellerstein questioned whether the US government has the right to bar Venezuela from funding Maduro’s legal expenses.
The hearing was the first for Maduro and his wife since a brief January arraignment, where they pleaded not guilty.
Maduro and Flores have sought to have the charges against them thrown out. Hellerstein declined to do so, but he pressed the prosecution on some of the issues Maduro’s legal team raised in its petition to dismiss the case.
Among them was a decision by the administration of US President Donald Trump to prevent the Venezuelan government from financing Maduro’s defence.
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