New York — Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s former president, and his wife urged a federal judge Wednesday to throw out the drug trafficking case against them, arguing they are shielded from prosecution by immunity afforded to a foreign leader and first lady.
In a filing submitted in Manhattan federal court, Maduro’s attorneys said U.S. law bars the indictment from moving forward because criminal charges cannot be pursued against the head of a foreign state.
“No American court has ever presided over the criminal trial of a foreign leader who was recognized by their own country as the sitting head of state at the time the charges were brought,” the lawyers wrote. “That is not an accident of history. It reflects a rule older than the common law: heads of state are exempt from the criminal process of any national court but their own.”
Maduro and his wife are currently slated to face trial on drug trafficking allegations on June 1. U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has scheduled arguments for Nov. 17 on their requests to dismiss the indictment.
Maduro, 63, and Cilia Flores, 69, have been detained in a Brooklyn jail since early January, when U.S. forces seized them from their home in Caracas during an overnight raid and transported them to New York.
Flores’ legal team made a similar argument in a separate Wednesday filing, contending that she is also immune from U.S. prosecution under the doctrine of sovereign immunity.
“It is an attribute of Venezuela’s sovereignty, and only Venezuela may surrender it,” her lawyers wrote.
Maduro’s attorneys further argued that, even if the court finds he is not protected by head-of-state immunity, the indictment should still be dismissed because he qualifies for conduct-based sovereign immunity.
Meanwhile, the lawyers argued, Maduro “vehemently denies the allegations against him.”
“If this case were to proceed to trial, it would be apparent that he has been falsely accused,” they said.
Both have pleaded not guilty in a criminal case first brought six years ago against numerous alleged co-conspirators. They face potential life prison sentences if a jury agrees that they were part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the U.S.
Federal prosecutors are scheduled to file a response to the arguments later this month.
President Trump’s administration has defended the raid to capture Maduro as a “surgical law enforcement operation.” Maduro has called himself a prisoner of war and his capture a kidnapping.
U.S. prosecutors say Maduro carried out a conspiracy to move thousands of tons of cocaine into the U.S. by colluding with Venezuelan law enforcement to help drug kingpins.
Maduro has remained defiant. On Sunday, he posted pictures of himself from prison on social media, saying he was “standing firm.”
“I send these photos as a small gift to all my grandsons and granddaughters, to the boys and girls, and to all the noble people who love us,” he wrote.
“I want you to know that we stand firm, with our hearts full of your love, that love that reaches us transformed into prayer, into constant action, into solidarity and true support. Infinite thanks for every word, for every gesture, for every blessing,” he went on to say.
On the Telegram messaging service, he added, “We will remain strong, calm and confident: God is with us. God will provide. Venezuela will rise again,” French news agency AFP reported.
