16.10.2026 09:55
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, detained in the US military operation on January 3, appeared before a judge in New York on October 15 due to a new indictment that added torture charges. Brought into the courtroom with his feet shackled, Maduro said, “I completely reject this document consisting of baseless accusations.” Flores also said, “I am completely innocent, I am not guilty.” The next hearing will be held on December 17.
Nicolas Maduro, detained by U.S. forces in Caracas and held in New York for about 10 months, and his wife Cilia Flores appeared in court for the first time regarding the torture charges added to the charges against them. The couple rejected all the charges.
“I COMPLETELY REJECT THIS DOCUMENT”
At a hearing held Thursday, October 15, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, presided over by Judge Alvin Hellerstein, Maduro was brought in with his feet shackled. Waving to those in the courtroom and shaking hands with his lawyers, Maduro spoke through an interpreter. Asked for his statement on the superseding indictment, Maduro said, “I completely reject this document consisting of baseless accusations.” Judge Hellerstein entered a plea of “not guilty” on Maduro’s behalf.
Maduro’s wife Cilia Flores said, “I am completely innocent. I am not guilty.” It was reported that Flores also did not accept drug and weapons charges, in addition to allegations that Americans and other people held in detention in Venezuela in recent years were tortured.
TORTURE CHARGE IN NEW INDICTMENT
According to information reflected in the U.S. press, in the superseding indictment unsealed on October 8, Maduro and Flores were charged with “conspiracy to commit torture.” The indictment alleged that Maduro, who took office in 2013, “presided over a system of repression and torture” and allowed certain individuals to be tortured. It was alleged that Flores helped establish this system.
The prosecution argued that in practices it claimed were aimed at silencing political opposition, methods such as starvation, electric shocks, suffocation and beatings were used, and that at least 3 U.S. citizens were among the victims. The indictment also alleged that the Maduro administration, which held the United States responsible for instability in Venezuela, targeted Americans for this reason. The torture charges were added to the “narco-terrorism,” “conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States” and weapons charges for which Maduro and Flores have been on trial since January.
DEFENSE SEEKS “IMMUNITY”
Maduro’s lawyer Barry Pollack argued that Maduro cannot be tried in U.S. courts because he is the leader of a sovereign country, and requested that the case be dismissed. The prosecution and the U.S. State Department opposed this request. The court postponed the next hearing to December 17 to consider the defense’s request to dismiss the case. The trial on the merits is planned to begin on June 14, 2027.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in his assessment of the case, said, “He will go through the court, but he did very bad things.”
FLORES’S REQUEST FOR HOUSE ARREST HAD BEEN DENIED
Flores’s lawyers, stating that she has a heart condition, had requested that their client be removed from the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, where she is being held, and placed under house arrest. At the October 8 hearing, Judge Hellerstein denied the bail and house arrest request, stating that Flores has access to large amounts of money and international connections and therefore poses a flight risk.
DETAINED IN CARACAS ON JANUARY 3
On January 3, the United States carried out a military operation in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, accompanied by airstrikes. In the operation, which included special forces and FBI teams, Maduro and his wife Flores were detained at the residence where they were staying and taken to the USS Iwo Jima in the Caribbean Sea, and then to New York. Trump announced the operation on his social media account.
"I AM STILL THE HEAD OF STATE OF MY COUNTRY"
Maduro and Flores appeared before a judge for the first time on January 5 at the federal court in Manhattan, and rejected 4 charges related to drug trafficking and weapons. At that hearing, Maduro said, “I was captured in my home in Caracas. I am still the head of state of my country. I am innocent, I am not guilty of anything listed here. I am an honest person.” Judge Hellerstein also did not accept the defense’s request to dismiss the case at the March hearing on the grounds that the United States, due to sanctions, did not allow Venezuelan state funds to be used for attorneys’ fees. After Maduro’s detention, Delcy Rodriguez assumed the administration in Venezuela as interim president.