Maduro and Wife Seek Dismissal of U.S. Drug Charges, Citing Sovereign Immunity

Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have asked a Manhattan federal judge to dismiss drug trafficking charges, arguing foreign-leader immunity bars U.S. prosecution.

Maduro Legal Team Claims Foreign-Leader Immunity in Manhattan Drug Case

Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have filed motions in Manhattan federal court asking a judge to throw out drug trafficking charges against them, ABC News US reports. Their lawyers argue that both defendants are shielded from U.S. prosecution under sovereign immunity.

In papers submitted Wednesday, Maduro's attorneys wrote that no American court has ever conducted a criminal trial of a foreign leader recognized by their own country as a sitting head of state at the time charges were filed. "That is not an accident of history," the filing states. "It reflects a rule older than the common law: heads of state are exempt from the criminal process of any national court but their own."

Flores's lawyers filed separate papers making a parallel argument. "It is an attribute of Venezuela's sovereignty, and only Venezuela may surrender it," they wrote.

Maduro's legal team further argued that even if he were not entitled to head-of-state immunity, the case must still be dismissed on conduct-based sovereign immunity grounds. The lawyers added that Maduro "vehemently denies the allegations against him" and called the accusations false.

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has scheduled oral arguments on the dismissal motions for November 17. Both defendants are set to stand trial on June 1 if the case proceeds.

Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, have been held at a Brooklyn jail since U.S. forces seized them in a pre-dawn raid on their Caracas home in early January and transferred them to New York. Both have pleaded not guilty. The criminal case was originally brought six years ago against a broader group of alleged co-conspirators; Maduro and Flores face potential life sentences if convicted of conspiring to smuggle thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States.

Federal prosecutors say Maduro colluded with Venezuelan law enforcement to assist drug kingpins in moving cocaine north. Their response to Wednesday's filings is due later this month.

President Donald Trump's administration has characterized the operation as a "surgical law enforcement operation." Maduro has publicly described himself as a prisoner of war and called his capture a kidnapping.

Source: ABC News US