Venezuela's Maduro Asserts Immunity, Urges US Judge to Dismiss Charges
Maduro’s lawyer says the indictment violates long-standing head-of-state immunity and asks the judge to dismiss the case before a 2027 trial.
- On Wednesday, Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro petitioned District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to dismiss drug trafficking charges, arguing he holds sovereign immunity as a head of state.
- United States military forces captured Maduro in Caracas on Jan 3 following an authorization by President Donald Trump; he remains in a Brooklyn federal jail awaiting trial.
- Attorney Barry Pollack argued the prosecution violates "absolute immunity from criminal jurisdiction to which heads of state and foreign officials acting in their official capacities have been entitled for hundreds of years." The United States stopped recognizing Maduro as Venezuela's president in 2019 due to disputed elections.
- Prosecutors must respond to the dismissal motion by Oct 2, with Judge Hellerstein scheduling a hearing for Nov 17; the case tests United States courts' willingness to apply international law.
- Former vice president Delcy Rodriguez now leads Venezuela while increasing cooperation with the Trump administration; last month, the two countries reached a deal granting the United States access to around one-fifth of Venezuelan oil reserves.
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98 Articles
The deposed Venezuelan president, imprisoned in New York, clings to his status as president, which Washington does not recognize, in a motion defended by his lawyer before a federal court
The overthrown Venezuelan President Maduro refers to the immunity of heads of state. Russia wants to close the Goethe Institutes in the country in response to German sanctions.
Maduro Asks US Judge to Dismiss Drug Trafficking Charges, Citing Immunity
Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has asked a U.S. federal judge to dismiss drug trafficking charges against him, arguing that he is protected from prosecution under international law as the head of a sovereign state. Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, made the argument in a filing before U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan federal court. […]
Maduro asks US court to drop drug charges on grounds of immunity
Maduro who has called himself a “prisoner of war” and his capture a “kidnapping” has requested all charges against him and his wife be dropped on grounds of diplomatic immunity. Their attorneys argued that only Venezuelan courts have the right to prosecute them.
According to his lawyer, the US position on Maduro's legitimacy is irrelevant in the case: he argued that the US government does not dispute that Maduro was the head of state of Venezuela, it only claims that he did not legally hold that position after 2019.
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