Former President Maduro to appear before US court in torture case — TimesLIVE

Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are due to appear on Thursday before a federal court in Manhattan, United States, on new charges of conspiracy to torture political opponents. As TimesLIVE reports, they are expected to enter pleas to the new charges at a hearing before District Judge Alvin Hellerstein.

Torture allegations

Prosecutors from the Manhattan US Attorney's Office allege that Maduro ordered officials to torture opposition figures and military personnel accused of preparing plots against him. According to the prosecution, in 2014 he ordered the abduction of military personnel to obtain information from them about possible dissidents.

The indictment states that Maduro urged officials to increase pressure on detainees who resisted. Investigators also allege that Flores agreed to this plan during a meeting and rejected a proposed alternative method of obtaining information by infiltrating the ranks of likely opponents.

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Maduro and Flores are not accused of personally committing torture. Their lawyers said the couple deny the new charges.

Other cases and possible punishment

Previously, Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty in a case in which they are accused of abusing power to help drug traffickers transport cocaine. According to the publication, US military personnel captured them during a January raid in Caracas and then took them to New York. Since then, the couple have been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

The trial in the case is scheduled for June 1, 2027. If Maduro and Flores are found guilty on all counts, each faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 50 years in prison.