OMM Newsroom
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty on Thursday in federal court in New York to charges in an expanded indictment that includes conspiracy to commit torture.
Maduro rejected the revised indictment, describing it as a repackaging of previously made false claims, CNN reported. He spoke through an interpreter at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Flores also denied the allegations. Prosecutors accuse the couple of torturing Americans and other people held in Venezuelan custody in recent years. The indictment also includes existing narcotics and weapons offenses.
The judge approved a joint request by defence and government attorneys to delay the trial by two weeks to allow time for preliminary filings. The trial is now scheduled to begin on June 14, and a further hearing on the defence’s bid to dismiss the case is set for Dec. 17.
Demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse during the arraignment to protest against Maduro and Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez.
The case follows a US military operation in January that captured Maduro and Flores and brought them to New York to face federal charges. Washington subsequently recognised an interim administration led by Rodríguez.
