● Mr Maduro and his wife face possible life sentences if a jury finds them guilty of conspiring to send cocaine into the United States.
Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, will face trial in the U.S. on drug trafficking charges from June 1, 2027, a judge said on Wednesday.
Mr Maduro and his wife were arrested in their compound in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, during a night raid on January 3 and brought before a U.S. court to face allegations of weapons and drug offences.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein scheduled a pretrial hearing for November 17 to hear motions from both sides.
The ousted president’s attorney, Barry Pollack, indicated that he would argue at trial that his client was protected by sovereign immunity, a legal principle that shields certain heads of state from prosecution.
Both Mr Maduro and Ms Flores have pleaded not guilty. They face possible life sentences if a jury finds them guilty of conspiring to send cocaine into the United States.
Mr Maduro’s defence lawyer said on Wednesday that he would seek to dismiss the case on the grounds that his client should be immune from prosecution as the head of a sovereign state.
He had previously said he expected to challenge the legality of Mr Maduro’s “military abduction.”
The lawyers have said there are complex legal issues that the court must address before the trial can begin.
Mr Maduro, a socialist who had an antagonistic relationship with the United States during his leadership of Venezuela from 2013 until his capture, referred to himself as a “prisoner of war” during a January 5 court appearance.
In Nigeria, there are concerns that the long but effective and impartial arm of the law of the United States may suddenly catch up someday with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu before Nigeria’s 2027 elections, over his alleged past with US law enforcement authorities.
This has sent his supporters into panic mode as the veil of “Presidential status as President of a sovereign nation” is defied by President Trump arresting President Maduro of Venezuela right in Venezuela by US forces over a “drug past” dating back to 2013, a situation that now makes Nigerians wonder if similar fate may suddenly befall President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the controversy over his alleged “drug-dealing past” remains a yet-to-be decided issue of concern in international conversations especially as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is yet to step feet in the United States of America even as President of a country, no less Nigeria, the richest black nation on earth.
This has made many wonder what President Tinubu is avoiding in the United States of America and if it perhaps has anything to do with an alleged 1993 secret plea deal agreement with US law enforcement authorities.
