Nicolás Maduro tells New York court new torture allegations are ‘false’

Nicolás Maduro denies torture allegations in New York court

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Nicolás Maduro, the former president of Venezuela, has denied torture allegations in a New York court. According to a rewritten indictment, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are accused of leading a state-sponsored campaign of repression that tortured scores of victims, including three Americans. The indictment alleges that Maduro oversaw a violent torture system that beat, asphyxiated, and delivered electric shocks to its victims. He is accused of personally recommending torture methods, receiving updates on specific victims’ treatment, and threatening to kill one prisoner’s child as a form of psychological torture. Flores, a former attorney general, is accused of helping develop the repressive system and ordering the torture of some specific people. Both Maduro and Flores have entered not-guilty pleas through their attorneys. The prosecution of foreign officials in the US is exceedingly rare, having been tried only a few times. The trial date has been moved from 1 June to 14 June at the request of both sides.

The allegations against Maduro and Flores are tied to Maduro’s crackdown on opponents during his presidency, which began in 2013. Maduro has been under investigation for years by the international criminal court over allegations of crimes against humanity. He has always denied wrongdoing. The revised indictment covers allegations of torture stretching back to Maduro’s ascent to power in 2013.

Maduro and his wife were seized from their Caracas home by the US military in a night-time raid in January. They were brought to court to face the new charges, with Maduro shackled at the ankles. Maduro spoke through an interpreter, criticizing the indictment and saying it contained “false accusations and false testimony”.

The prosecution of torture is a crime under international law and can be prosecuted outside the country where the abuse occurred and regardless of the victims’ nationality. The case against Maduro and Flores is one of the few times that foreign officials have been prosecuted in the US for torture.