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Maduro and Flores Argue US Sanctions Block Their Legal Defense in New York Court
Judge Alvin Hellerstein refused to dismiss narco-terrorism charges despite defense claims that U.S. sanctions block Venezuelan funds for legal fees, impacting the right to counsel.
- On Thursday, deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared in Manhattan federal court to challenge narco-terrorism charges and contest U.S. sanctions blocking their legal defense funding.
- U.S. special forces captured Maduro and Flores during a January 3 raid on their Caracas compound, transporting them to New York to face accusations of directing a cocaine-trafficking operation spanning over 25 years.
- Defense attorneys argue that the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control decision to revoke a license for legal fees violates the Sixth Amendment, preventing the couple from retaining their chosen counsel.
- Maduro and Flores remain detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn while Judge Alvin Hellerstein weighs dismissal motions; prosecutors maintain that sanctions regulations prohibit using government funds for legal fees.
- This court fight could reshape Venezuela's political balance as interim President Delcy Rodriguez dismantles the former socialist project, while U.S.-Venezuela relations undergo recalibration following Maduro's capture.
401 Articles
401 Articles
How is the defense of a judicial defendant paid when the government that judges him blocks the resources to do so? That was the axis that marked the second hearing of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in the District Court of New York. The discussion, initially technical, evolved towards a broader exchange in which Judge Alvin Hellerstein exposed a tension present in the whole case: the coexistence between a system of sanction…
Venezuela's former President Nicolás Maduro has to answer to court in New York. However, before the substance of the matter is dealt with, the trial is stalled. Reason is an unusual dispute over the financing of his defense.
Maduro Pleads Poverty in Battle Against U.S. Narco-Terrorism Charges.
PULSE POINTSWHAT HAPPENED: Former Venezuelan narco-dictator Nicolás Maduro appeared in a New York courtroom, seeking to have his drug trafficking and narco-terrorism indictment dismissed over his alleged inability to afford an attorney.WHO WAS INVOLVED: Nicolás Maduro, his wife Cilia Flores, federal agents, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein, prosecutor Kyle Wirshba, and U.S. military forces.WHEN & WHERE: The hearing occurred on …
NEW YORK (AP) — Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro returned to a federal court in New York on Thursday, seeking to have the drug trafficking charges against him dismissed following his arrest in January during a…
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