Maduro To Make First US Court Appearance On Drug Charges

2026-01-05 05:03:33

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) New York- Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is set to make his first appearance Monday in an American courtroom on the narco-terrorism charges the Trump administration used to justify capturing him and bringing him to New York.

Maduro and his wife are expected to appear at noon before a judge for a brief, but required, legal proceeding that will likely kick off a prolonged legal fight over whether he can be put on trial in the US.

The couple will be brought from a Brooklyn jail to a Manhattan courthouse just around the corner from the one where President Donald Trump was convicted in 2024 of falsifying business records.

As a criminal defendant in the US legal system, Maduro will have the same rights as any other person accused of a crime - including the right to a trial by a jury of regular New Yorkers. But he'll also be nearly - but not quite - unique.

Maduro's lawyers are expected to contest the legality of his arrest, arguing that he is immune from prosecution as a sovereign head of state.

Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriegaunsuccessfully tried the same defense after the US captured him in a similar military invasion in 1990. But the US doesn't recognize Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate head of state - particularly after a much-disputed 2024 reelection.

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