Madeleine Halpert,New York court report,
Grace Goodwin,court reportAnd
Norberto Paredes,BBC News World
A judge on Thursday favored legal arguments that former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores should be allowed to use Venezuelan government money to finance their defense.
Lawyers for Maduro and Flores asked the judge to dismiss the narcoterrorism case against the two men because the United States denied them use of the funds due to sanctions in place against the Latin American country.
Prosecutors said Maduro had “looted” Venezuela’s wealth and should not be able to use his money to pay legal fees.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein, 92, however, stressed that “the right to defense is essential”. He said he would not dismiss the case because of the dispute.
The judge said he would make his decision later, including at the next hearing.
U.S. forces arrested Maduro and Flores at their Caracas compound in a dramatic nighttime raid on Jan. 3, and took them to New York to face allegations of weapons and drug offenses, which they deny.
On Thursday, dressed in khaki green prison jumpsuits, Maduro and his wife sat quietly with several lawyers between them as they listened to a translation of the arguments through headphones.
The mood was in stark contrast to their first court appearance, when Maduro gave a several-minute speech claiming he had been kidnapped and was innocent. That hearing ended with a man shouting at Maduro from the back of the courtroom.
Because the Maduros and the Venezuelan government are subject to U.S. sanctions, they needed to obtain a license to allow the government to pay their legal fees.
The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) initially granted this license, then revoked it.
Prosecutors argued in court that the Maduros should not be able to access Venezuelan government funds for national security reasons and claimed they had access to personal funds available to pay lawyers, something the Maduros deny.
Under US law, Maduro, like any accused, would be entitled to a court-appointed lawyer if he cannot afford his own.
Judge Hellerstein appeared to side with Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, who said the unusual case against the former leader, taking place in another country, would be overwhelming for a public defender and hamper the assistance he provides.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued that OFAC did not allow the Maduros access to Venezuelan government funds because of long-standing U.S. sanctions under his regime and because the couple had “looted the wealth of Venezuelans” for their own gain.
Judge Hellerstein questioned this logic, saying that because of Maduro’s capture, the foreign policy situation had changed.
“We do business with Venezuela,” he said. Since Maduro’s arrest, former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has taken power and the country announced it had restored diplomatic relations with the United States.
He also stressed that “the Venezuelan government is ready to pay.”
The judge seemed unsure how to resolve the issue, as Maduro’s legal team sought to dismiss the entire case over the matter.
“What’s the relief?” the judge repeatedly asked both parties.
The United States has charged Maduro with conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
Maduro and his wife have not yet filed for bail and are being held at the Metropolitan Federal Detention Center in Brooklyn.
No trial date has been set.
At a cabinet meeting Thursday in Washington, President Donald Trump said the United States was considering additional charges against Maduro.
He also said Maduro would receive a “fair trial.”
Residents of Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, told the BBC they would closely monitor developments in the court.
Ana Patricia, a 72-year-old retired lawyer, said that despite government censorship, everyone tries to follow the process.
“They can control what the Venezuelan media publishes, but not what is published in the international press.”
Regarding Maduro’s fate, she said she felt some sympathy: “He is a man who had everything but lost it because of greed and an inflated ego. I feel sorry for him, because at the end of the day he is a human being, but I hope he gets a life sentence. He will have to pay for his crimes.”
In western Caracas, Agustina Parra, a 67-year-old retired nurse, told the BBC she had confidence in the release of “my President Maduro.”
“Despite his faults, he has not been a bad president. He knows he is innocent and he will prove it.”
Parra says the U.S. government “doesn’t even know what to accuse him of.”
“They accuse him of drug trafficking, of possession of weapons,” she added. “And I cannot accept President Trump’s actions in Venezuela, during which so many people died.”