Nicolas Maduro, the former Venezuelan president held in prison in the United States, and his wife Cilia Flores have denied new charges of conspiracy to torture brought against them. They appeared in a court in New York on Thursday, 15 October, local time and declared themselves innocent, the BBC reported.
The United States had earlier charged Maduro with narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and weapons offences. Further charges were added against Maduro and his wife last week.
Maduro and Flores were seized during a US military operation in January. They were then brought to New York, where they are now in prison.
The couple deny the charges against them. They argue that the case should be dismissed because they are entitled to sovereign immunity. Their trial is scheduled for June 2027.
In the new charges filed last week, prosecutors allege that Maduro and Flores built and maintained “a violent system of repression” under which “thousands of Venezuelans” were killed, harassed or tortured.
Maduro denied the new charges brought by the US government. “I reject the false accusations and false testimony against me,” he told the court on Thursday.
Speaking in Spanish through an interpreter, Maduro said: “I completely reject this document.”
Judge Alvin Hellerstein said the court would enter a plea of not guilty on Maduro’s behalf.
Flores, also speaking through an interpreter, said: “I am completely innocent. I have committed no crime.”
Maduro and Flores were seen in light brown prison clothes. Both appeared to have lost weight while held in Brooklyn.
The indictment says the methods of torture included “electric shocks, suffocation, rape, forced nudity, prolonged isolation, starvation, confinement in punishment cells and psychological abuse”.
The United States also alleges that Maduro authorised torture against “certain individuals” and that US citizens were among those tortured under this system.
Prosecutors had earlier accused Maduro, his wife, his son and associates of involvement in a conspiracy to traffic cocaine and of colluding with cartels designated as terrorist groups.
Maduro has previously called such charges part of an “imperialist” plan to take control of Venezuela’s vast oil wealth.
Lawyers for Maduro and his wife argue that Maduro is the leader of a sovereign country and therefore outside the reach of the judicial process, being entitled to sovereign immunity. They say their forcible removal to the United States was unlawful.
Flores had asked a judge to release her on bail while she awaits trial, but the application failed. She had argued that she suffers from heart disease and other health problems while held at Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report