NEW YORK — Former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Thursday formally repudiated the latest round of criminal charges alleging he directed the torture of prisoners, attempting a speech in a Manhattan courtroom that was cut short by a federal judge.
Asked whether he would plead guilty or not guilty, Maduro, speaking in Spanish, stood up and denounced what he called “false accusations and false testimony against me.”
“I reject this document in its entirety,” Maduro continued, until U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein interrupted him and said he would interpret the response as “not guilty.”
The former Venezuelan first lady, Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro, who faces similar charges, took a more cordial approach when asked by the court. Asked whether she read the indictment, she responded, “Yes, thank you.”“I am completely innocent. I am not guilty,” she declared.
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The couple was indicted again last week when federal prosecutors with the Southern District of New York laid out new accusations that the Maduros oversaw from afar the torture of more than half a dozen Venezuelan dissidents, government officials and even an American tourist who was caught crossing the border years ago. Maduro in court said he had read a Spanish translation of the superseding indictment yesterday.
On Thursday, the judge acknowledged that the new criminal charges make the case more complex and pushed back the trial by two weeks to June 14.
The Maduros, who were taken from their home in Caracas in January by armed commandos during an American military operation, are attempting to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that they are immune from U.S. courts as foreign heads of state. They have described their arrest as an illegal abduction. The operation was part of the Trump administration’s attempts to strengthen its influence in South America and has resulted in an international deal to secure oil rights that have been described by geopolitical experts as an increasingly aggressive policy of foreign resource extraction.
The hearing, which started half an hour late at 11:34 a.m., lasted roughly 30 minutes. Most of it was dominated by silence as the 92-year-old judge quietly leafed through paperwork to decide on a new schedule.
Maduro walked into the courtroom wearing a heavily wrinkled tan prison uniform, waving to the spectators in the public gallery as he said, “Buenas tardes a todos.” He adjusted his turtleshell glasses as he sat down and put on black headphones that broadcast a live translation of the court proceeding. His signature thick, dark mustache was now gray and neatly trimmed.
Two U.S. marshals standing in black jackets flanked Maduro as he sat at the defense table with his lawyers.
During the prolonged silence, Maduro turned to his left to pass a message through several lawyers along to his wife, who smiled and nodded in response. Every time one of his lawyers spoke to him over his shoulder, he covered up the microphone at his table with his left hand.
Maduro’s defense attorney, Barry Pollack, told the judge that the pace of the case is “very aggressive” but “realistic” given the complex nature of the recent indictment — which includes extensive descriptions of the way Maduro allegedly approved the capture and mistreatment of perceived political enemies.
Both sides agreed to return to court for oral arguments on pending motions on the morning of Dec. 17.
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