Maduro trial set for June 2027
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro talks to the media during a news conference at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela January 16, 2017. PHOTO: REUTERS
A judge on Wednesday set a June 1, 2027, trial date for ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on U.S. drug trafficking charges, while a defense lawyer vowed to seek dismissal of the case on the grounds that Maduro is immune from prosecution as the head of a sovereign state.
Maduro and his wife, wearing beige prison garb, appeared during a hearing lasting about 20 minutes in Manhattan federal court before US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in one of the most consequential criminal cases in recent US history.
US commandos captured Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, at their heavily guarded home in Caracas during a January 3 nighttime military raid ordered by President Donald Trump. They were brought to New York, where they previously had been indicted on charges of using their leadership positions in the oil-rich South American country to facilitate cocaine shipments.
They have pleaded not guilty. Reuters