Maduro seeks to have charges dismissed under immunity claims
The former Venezuelan president says he is immune from the federal charges.
Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is immune from prosecution because he is a head of state, according to his lawyer, who filed a petition for his charges to be dismissed.
"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," Barry Pollack, a lawyer for Maduro who filed the declaration in federal court on Wednesday, said.
He said heads of state are "exempt from the criminal process of any national court" except in their own country, reflecting "a rule older than the common law."
"That immunity flows not from goodwill that can be withdrawn on a whim, but from the perfect equality and absolute independence of sovereigns," he said. "Thus, this Court lacks jurisdiction with respect to Mr. Maduro, who is recognized by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as its head of state."
The lawyer argues that even if immunity were not given, the charges against Maduro would be moot because the Justice Department alleges the conduct he is charged with took place while he was a head of state.
"This Court cannot defer to the Executive Branch’s apparent view that Mr. Maduro is not entitled to sovereign immunity -- either status or conduct-based," Pollack said. "Complete immunity for sovereign heads of state is a bedrock principal of customary international law and is firmly embedded within the common law. Foreign official immunity is analyzed through the application of common law. This unprecedented prosecution is in flagrant violation of common law principles."
In a separate court filing, Maduro's wife Cila Flores also said her charges were moot because she was a head of state.
The United States dramatically plucked Maduro and Flores from their bunker in Venezuelan capital Caracas in January and unsealed narcoterrorism charges against them.
Federal prosecutors accuse Maduro and Flores of conspiring with drug cartels to facilitate the flow of thousands of tons of cocaine into the U.S.
In July, a federal judge in New York decided that the couple will stand trial on June 1, 2027.
When Maduro and Flores appeared in court in March, Maduro's lawyers unsuccessfully pushed to have the case thrown out because the Treasury Department had blocked the Venezuelan government from paying his defense attorneys.
