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Immunity bid in New York
Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, asked a judge in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday to dismiss the drug trafficking indictment against them on immunity grounds, saying they have immunity as the leader and first lady of a foreign country.
“No American court has ever presided over the criminal trial of a foreign leader”
In papers filed in Manhattan federal court, Maduro’s lawyers argued that "No American court has ever presided over the criminal trial of a foreign leader" recognized by their own country as the sitting head of state when the charges were brought.
The case is tied to a U.S. military operation in Caracas that seized Maduro and Flores from their Caracas home in a middle-of-the-night raid in early January and brought them to New York, where they have been held at a Brooklyn jail.
Maduro and Flores are scheduled to go on trial on drug trafficking charges next June 1, and Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein set oral arguments for Nov. 17 on motions to dismiss the indictment.
Federal prosecutors are scheduled to file a response to the arguments later this month, as the defense also argued Maduro "vehemently denies the allegations against him."
Court dates and detention
An AFP report carried by RFI said Maduro and Flores asked a U.S. judge late Wednesday to dismiss drug trafficking charges, claiming immunity as president and first lady, and said the hearing on their dismissal arguments is scheduled in New York for November 7.
RFI also reported that Maduro and Flores have been held in a Brooklyn jail ever since U.S. forces seized them in Caracas on January 3, and it said they pleaded not guilty to federal drug trafficking and firearms charges.
The defense filings described immunity as a jurisdictional bar, with Maduro’s lawyers writing that "This is not an accident of history" and that it reflects a rule older than common law.
RFI further stated that Maduro’s trial is set for June 2027, while Anadolu Ajansı reported a U.S. judge scheduled their trial to begin June 1, 2027.
Anadolu Ajansı added that Maduro, 63, declared during his arraignment, "I am a decent man. I am still president of my country," while the couple were held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Prosecutors, penalties, and stakes
Nicolás Maduro’s legal team also argued that the narcoterrorism charge should be dismissed for jurisdictional reasons, with attorney Barry Pollack asserting that "The Court would lack jurisdiction over Mr. Maduro" if he is entitled to head-of-state or conduct-based sovereign immunity.
“The Court would lack jurisdiction over Mr. Maduro”
CubaHeadlines reported that Pollack requested dismissal "with prejudice," and said Maduro is facing accusations of conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism, cocaine importation, and possession of automatic weapons, all carrying potential life sentences.
NPR reported that 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, while the Trump administration defended the raid as a "surgical law enforcement operation."
Euronews said Maduro presented himself as a "war prisoner" and described his arrest as an "abduction," and it quoted his lawyers arguing that "This is an attribute of Venezuela’s sovereignty" in support of Flores’s immunity.
El País said Washington has not recognized Maduro as Venezuela’s president since 2019, and it reported that prosecutors have until October 2 to respond to Maduro’s motion to dismiss, with Judge Hellerstein holding a hearing on the dismissal request on November 17.