Venezuela’s Maduro appears in court for 1st time since arraignment

The hearing opened with the defence and prosecution arguing over whether Maduro should be allowed to use Venezuelan government funds to pay for his defence.

Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were back in a New York courtroom Thursday as they seek to have their drug trafficking indictments thrown out over a geopolitical dispute over legal fees.

The defence and prosecution argued over whether Maduro should be allowed to use Venezuelan government funds to pay for his defence. His lawyers have insisted the U.S. is violating the deposed leader’s constitutional rights by blocking government money from being used for his legal costs.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein questioned why the prosecution’s argument to block the funds still stands, now that U.S. and Venezuelan relations have warmed somewhat. He did not immediately rule on the issue Thursday and did not give a timeline for the decision. A date for the next hearing was not set.

As supporters and opponents rallied outside, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, made their first court appearance since a January arraignment at which he protested their capture by U.S. military forces and declared: “I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country.”

Flores has also pleaded not guilty.

The couple sat at the defence table between their lawyers, wearing jail uniforms and headphones to listen to the translation.

In addition to drug trafficking, they are accused of ordering kidnappings, beatings and murders of those who owed them drug money or undermined their trafficking operation. That included the killing of a drug boss in Caracas, the indictment said. If convicted, they face life in prison.

Both are being jailed at a Brooklyn detention center, and neither has asked to be released on bail. Hellerstein has yet to set a trial date.