Venezuela’s captured dictator, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, will appear before the US Court again at the end of March due to “logistical and planning problems” that were not detailed by the Public Ministry.
Initially, they were supposed to return to the federal court in New York, where the trial takes place, on the 17th.
According to the France-Presse news agency (AFP), the Venezuelans’ defense, led by lawyer Barry Pollack, and judge Alvin Hellerstein agreed to the request. Pollack, known for representing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, is trying to free Maduro and Flores from a life sentence in the US.
According to federal prosecutor Jay Clayton, the delay is necessary for the prosecution to “present evidence” and for the defense to have “an adequate opportunity to review it” before filing pretrial motions. This exchange of evidence, according to him, will be crucial in determining the course of the process.
The captured dictator and his wife first appeared before an American court on January 5, two days after their capture in a nighttime US military operation in Caracas.
The two claimed innocence of all the federal crimes with which they are accused, related to narco-terrorism, conspiracy and drug trafficking, and said they were “prisoners of war”.
