Maduro Claims Immunity, Asks Judge to Toss Case

Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, asked a judge on Wednesday to throw out the US drug trafficking indictment against them, arguing they are immune from prosecution as the leader and first lady of a foreign country.

The filings landed in Manhattan federal court, where both have pleaded not guilty and face potential life sentences.

This is a motion, not a ruling. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has set oral arguments on the motions to dismiss for Nov. 17.

What the filings argue

Maduro’s lawyers wrote that the judge is required by law to reject the indictment because it cannot be brought against a foreign leader.

“No American court has ever presided over the criminal trial of a foreign leader who was recognized by their own country as the sitting head of state at the time the charges were brought,” they wrote. “That is not an accident of history. It reflects a rule older than the common law: heads of state are exempt from the criminal process of any national court but their own.”

They added that even if Maduro were not entitled to head-of-state immunity, the case must still be dismissed because he is entitled to conduct-based sovereign immunity.

Flores filed separate papers claiming her own sovereign immunity. “It is an attribute of Venezuela’s sovereignty, and only Venezuela may surrender it,” her lawyers wrote.

On the substance of the charges, Maduro’s lawyers said he “vehemently denies the allegations against him.” “If this case were to proceed to trial, it would be apparent that he has been falsely accused,” they said.