Deposed Venezuelan tyrant Nicolás Maduro is set to appear in Manhattan court Thursday for the first time since his stunning arrest – as he desperately tries to get his drug-trafficking indictment thrown out.
Maduro, 63, is claiming the US government is affecting his ability to defend himself against the narco-terror charges leveled against him – as sanctions are stopping the Venezuelan government from covering his legal costs.
Deposed Venezuelan tyrant Nicolás Maduro is set to appear in Manhattan court Thursday for the first time since his stunning arrest – as he desperately tries to get his drug-trafficking indictment thrown out. via REUTERS
Barry Pollack, Maduro’s defense lawyer who represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, claimed the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control agency revoked a license that would allow Venezuela to cover the costs after approving it.
Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, 69, have been holed up in a Brooklyn detention center since their January arraignment. Flores will also appear in court Thursday. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post
Prosecutors say Maduro can use his own accounts to cover legal costs, but he claimed he cannot afford to do so.
Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, 69, have been holed up in a Brooklyn detention center since their January arraignment. Flores will also appear in court Thursday.
At the hearing, Maduro declared: “I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country.”
Maduro and Flores were indicted on narco-terrorism charges after being snatched from their Caracas mansion by US forces.
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The former strongman is accused of running a “corrupt, illegitimate government,” which “leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking.”
A trial date has not yet been set.
With Post wires