World News
Nicolás Maduro and wife ask US judge to dismiss drug trafficking case on sovereign immunity grounds
Lawyers for the detained former Venezuelan leader argue that US courts lack jurisdiction over foreign heads of state, while prosecutors prepare their response.
The short version
- Attorneys for former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, filed motions in Manhattan federal court seeking the dismissal of their drug trafficking indictment.
- The defense argues that foreign heads of state and their spouses are entitled to sovereign and conduct-based immunity under international and common law.
- Both defendants remain detained in Brooklyn after being captured by US forces in Caracas in January, and both have pleaded not guilty to allegations of conspiring to traffic cocaine into the US.
- US District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein scheduled oral arguments on the motions for November 17 ahead of a scheduled trial.
Key facts
- Attorneys for Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores submitted filings to a Manhattan federal court requesting the dismissal of their drug trafficking charges based on sovereign and foreign leader immunity.[Associated Press · Al Jazeera · ABC News]
- Maduro and Flores have been held at a Brooklyn federal detention facility since being captured at their Caracas home by US forces in January.[Associated Press · Al Jazeera · ABC News]
- US District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein set oral arguments regarding the dismissal motions for November 17, with federal prosecutors scheduled to respond beforehand.[Associated Press · Al Jazeera · ABC News]
- US prosecutors allege that Maduro conspired to traffic thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States with the assistance of Venezuelan law enforcement, charges to which Maduro has pleaded not guilty and strongly denied.[Associated Press · Al Jazeera · ABC News]
- The United States executive branch has not recognized Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela since 2019, following disputed presidential elections.[Al Jazeera]
What remains uncertain
- It remains legally uncertain whether US courts will recognize head-of-state immunity for a foreign leader whom the US executive branch does not officially recognize as legitimate.[Al Jazeera]
- Source reports differ on whether the scheduled trial date for the defendants is set for June 1 of next year or June 1, 2027.[Associated Press · Al Jazeera · ABC News]