Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, stand with Maduro’s lawyer Anna Estevao and Flores’ lawyer, Mark Donnelly, at a hearing before US
Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, said last week that the 63-year-old former president denied the charges and “looks forward to his day in court. Prosecutors told the judge that lawyers for both sides want the trial date moved from June 1 to June 14. The revised indictment expands the allegations against Maduro and Flores to cover alleged torture dating back to 2013, when Maduro succeeded his mentor, Hugo Chávez, as president.
Former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro on Thursday dismissed new torture allegations against him and his wife, Cilia Flores, as “false accusations” during a court appearance in New York, where a judge entered not-guilty pleas on their behalf in a revised indictment accusing them of overseeing a state-sponsored campaign of repression. He twice challenged the charges, saying they contained “false accusations and false testimony”. Maduro, who was brought to court in ankle shackles, criticised the indictment when judge Alvin K. Hellerstein asked him to enter a plea. He spoke through an interpreter.
Maduro was Venezuela’s president from 2013 until his capture in January. He has been under investigation for years by the International Criminal Court over alleged crimes against humanity linked to his government’s crackdown on political opponents. He has consistently denied wrongdoing.