MANHATTAN (CN) — Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro, pleaded not guilty Thursday to a new indictment charging him with torturing political rivals and United States citizens.
Draped in beige prison garb and shackled at the ankles, Maduro decried the “false accusations and false testimony against me” in the superseding indictment, unsealed last week by federal prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein cut him off and urged him to enter his plea.
“I reject this document in its entirety,” Maduro told the judge.
The government unsealed the new charge — conspiracy to commit torture — during a bail hearing last week for Flores, who unsuccessfully argued for her release amid health concerns. Maduro was not present for that hearing.
Thursday was Maduro’s first appearance in the Manhattan courthouse since July. As he’d done in prior appearances, the defiant ex-president enthusiastically greeted the gallery with a wave when marshals ushered him into the courtroom.
Hellerstein agreed to push the trial back from June 1, 2027, to June 14 in light of the newly charged conduct, pursuant to a joint request from the parties. Maduro’s lawyer Barry Pollock called the mere two-week delay “aggressive,” considering the significance of the fresh charges, but said he believes the parties can stick to it.
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