Trial date set in US for Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro in drug trafficking case
A US court has scheduled a June 1 trial for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on drug trafficking charges. The couple was seized in a US military operation in Caracas and is currently being held in a Brooklyn jail.
Why it matters
This case represents a significant escalation in US-Venezuela relations and raises complex international legal questions regarding sovereign immunity and the legality of the military operation.
A TRIAL DATE of 1 June has been set for Nicolás Maduro to face drug trafficking charges along with his wife, as his lawyers continue to object to the US military action that snatched the Venezuelan president from power and took him to New York.
Maduro (63) and his wife Cilia Flores (69) have been held at a Brooklyn jail since US forces seized them from their Caracas home in a middle-of-the-night raid and brought them to New York in early January.
Neither spoke during today’s 15-minute hearing. Both have pleaded not guilty.
They face potential life prison sentences if a jury agrees that they were part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the US.
Judge Alvin K Hellerstein set the trial date at the request of lawyers on both sides. Under the approved schedule, defence lawyers will begin filing motions in early September to challenge the indictment.
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