Former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, will appear again this Thursday (26) before the Southern District Court of New York for the second hearing of his trial on charges of involvement in drug trafficking.
Maduro and Flores arrived at court early this morning, around 5am Brasília time, and will appear before judge Alvin Hellerstein at 12pm.
The defendants were transported from the Brooklyn prison, where they are being held, in a convoy of three closed, windowless vans, according to the broadcaster. CNN. For the first hearing in the case, the couple arrived at court by helicopter.
What charges do Maduro and Flores face?
Maduro is accused of four serious crimes: three of conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism, importation of cocaine and possession of machine guns and explosive devices; and a fourth count of possession of these weapons.
Flores, in turn, is charged with four related crimes: two counts of conspiracy to import cocaine, one count of conspiracy to possess weapons and one count of possession of weapons.
At his first hearing, Maduro pleaded not guilty and described himself as a “prisoner of war” after being captured in Caracas on January 3 by American special forces.
The couple’s lawyers, Barry J. Pollack and Mark E. Donnelly, recently filed a request to dismiss the case, arguing that the American government revoked the licenses that allowed them to use funds from the Chavista regime to pay for their defense, which they describe as a “procedural failure.”
The situation caused lawyer Barry Pollack to announce that he would withdraw from the defense team due to the US refusal for the Venezuelan regime to pay his legal fees. The jurist said that the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control granted and then revoked a license that authorized the Venezuelan state to pay for Maduro’s defense costs.
He argued in a court filing that requiring a license from the Treasury Department violated Maduro’s constitutional right to legal representation.
In turn, the prosecution asked the judge to prohibit the defendants from sharing evidence with other fugitives, including Venezuela’s current Interior Minister, Diosdado Cabello. According to AFP, Maduro and his wife are only allowed to communicate by phone with his family and lawyers for a period of 15 minutes.
According to the American government, there is a real risk of violence and Maduro’s inner circle could use the information to identify and retaliate against witnesses and their families in Venezuela.
What are the next steps expected in the new hearing of Maduro’s trial?
This Thursday’s hearing is expected to be instructive, as a preliminary part before the actual trial. According to analysis of the AFPit is likely that Maduro’s team will again press for the case to be dismissed, while his lawyers try to find alternatives for paying legal fees.
According to CNN, some points that should be discussed in court are the rules on presenting evidence, defense financing, requests from the defense and prosecution and possible court orders on the procedural progress.
