Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro pleads not guilty to torture charges

Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores plead not guilty to torture charges in a New York court.

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Venezuela's former President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have pleaded not guilty to new torture charges brought against them by US authorities. The couple has been held in a New York jail since their capture in January and is facing a new indictment accusing them of conspiring to torture political opponents and US citizens.

The indictment alleges that Maduro and Flores used torture to "intimidate, harass, and neutralise their opponents, including through kidnappings." Maduro "presided over" a system of repression and torture, while Flores helped him to develop it, according to a charge document. The alleged torture methods included "electric shock, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, prolonged isolation, starvation, punishment cells, and psychological torture", the indictment states.

Prosecutors have accused Maduro of authorising the use of torture "against specific individuals" and alleges US citizens were tortured under this system. Maduro and Flores have been accused of leading a state-sponsored repression campaign that tortured scores of victims, including three Americans, during his presidency from 2013 to 2026.

The couple has pleaded not guilty to the allegations and both have argued to have the case thrown out on the grounds that they qualify for sovereign immunity. Their trial is scheduled for June 2027. Maduro and Flores have been accused of using political repression to cling to power during his presidency.

The US government initially accused Maduro of narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and weapons-related offenses, before adding new charges against him and Flores last week. Maduro and Flores were captured in January during a US military raid, after which they were taken to New York, where they remain in jail.

Maduro and Flores wore beige jail uniforms and both appear to have lost weight during their detention in Brooklyn. Maduro denied the new charges brought against him by the US government, telling a court on Thursday he denied the "false accusations and false testimony against me." "I reject this document entirely," Maduro said in Spanish through a translator.