The attorneys for Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores requested that the U.S. justice system dismiss the charge of conspiracy to commit torture, arguing that the prosecution resorted to procedural maneuvers to justify that the accusation be processed in a Manhattan court, as reported by CNN.
The motion, presented at the beginning of this week, argues that this charge should be processed before the Eastern District Court of New York, in Brooklyn, where Maduro and Flores have been detained since January, and not before the Southern District Court, in Manhattan, where the Prosecutor's Office filed a substitute indictment in October.
The defense accuses the Prosecutor's Office of fabricating a legal basis
The central argument of the lawyers pertains to the territorial jurisdiction of the court to hear the new charge.
According to the defense, the prosecution formally re-arrested Maduro and Flores in Manhattan, despite the fact that both were already in custody in Brooklyn, with the purpose of establishing a legal basis to process the torture charges there.
"The government cannot opportunistically establish jurisdiction in any district of its choice [...], simply claiming that it is going to execute there a detention order that would otherwise be unnecessary," the lawyers noted in the court document, according to a quote reproduced by CNN.
The defense argues that these new arrests do not justify the territorial jurisdiction of the Southern District regarding the additional charge filed in October.
The motion does not address the substance of the accusations, which Maduro and Flores have rejected in their judicial appearances.
The lawyers also requested that, if the court denies the dismissal of the charge, they be allowed access to the records and materials presented to the grand jury that supported the substitute indictment.
According to the agency EFE, it was suggested as an alternative that the judge herself examine those records.
Maduro and Flores insist on sovereign immunity
In parallel, the defense reiterated its request to dismiss the entire process due to sovereign immunity, an argument it considers a priority over the dispute regarding territorial jurisdiction.
Lawyers argue that Maduro formally retains the status of president of Venezuela because the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, has not declared a "permanent vacancy" of the Presidency.
To support that interpretation, Flores' defense cited in a separate document statements from a senior official at the U.S. State Department, who indicated that Rodríguez would have to declare that vacancy, something that had not yet happened.
According to the lawyers' thesis, the immunity claimed does not belong individually to Maduro or Flores, but rather derives from the sovereignty of the Venezuelan state and cannot be unilaterally disregarded by the United States.
The defense argues that this reasoning would justify dismissing all charges, even before the court rules on the new procedural challenge.
Cilia Flores presented a separate motion in which she reinforced that position with statements from the U.S. government itself.
The Prosecutor's Office, for its part, rejects the argument of immunity and states that the United States ceased to recognize Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela in 2019, and that the current Venezuelan government has not claimed that protection on its behalf.
The charges of torture and the identified victims
The substitute indictment, submitted on October 8 to the Southern District Court of New York, included the charge of conspiracy to commit torture against Maduro and Flores and expanded the charges against the latter to include conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism.
The document outlines nine cases of alleged victims of the Maduro government to describe a strategy of repression and torture that, according to the Prosecutor's Office, was used to maintain power.
The accusation describes methods such as electric shocks, simulated asphyxiation, beatings, sexual assaults, prolonged isolation, and threats against family members.
Among the individuals identified in the accusation are the former U.S. Marine Matthew Heath, who stayed 752 days detained in Venezuela; and Osman Khan, who was incarcerated for 259 days.
Maduro and Flores declared themselves innocent of the new charges on October 15, as they had done regarding previous accusations related to narcoterrorism, cocaine importation, and crimes related to weapons.
The request is in the hands of Judge Analisa Torres, who took over the case following the death of Judge Alvin Hellerstein.
Maduro and Flores have a new hearing scheduled for December 17, the first under the direction of Torres, in which the sovereign immunity arguments presented by the defenses are set to be examined.
Related videos:
Filed under: