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Maduro pleads not guilty to new torture charges
Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court to new charges accusing them of conspiring to torture people held in Venezuelan prisons, including Americans. Maduro faces one count of conspiracy to commit torture; Flores faces conspiracy to commit torture and narcoterrorism. They pleaded not guilty in January to drug trafficking and narcoterrorism charges.
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How each side sees it
Prosecutors sayMaduro 'presided over this system of repression and torture,' authorizing torture against specific people from about 2013, and Flores helped build the system.
Maduro saysHe told the court 'I reject this document in its entirety' and called the torture accusations false; his lawyers argue he is immune from prosecution as a former head of state.
Sources
- ABC News: Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro pleads not guilty to torture
- AP via ABC7: Ex-Venezuelan President Maduro returning to court to face torture allegations
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