The dictator wanted the Venezuelan government to finance his defense.
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The federal judge overseeing the accusation against Nicolás Maduro in New York refused this Thursday to dismiss the case after the dictator stated that he could not afford his luxury legal equipment.
For the first time since the indictment in January, Maduro appeared before the New York court this Tuesday, where demonstrators waved Venezuelan flags and celebrated the arrest and trial of the dictator. Meanwhile, in Caracas, the Venezuelan government organized mobilizations where Chavista groups took to the streets to protest the capture of the narco-leader ordered
by Trump.
At the hearing, the defense of Maduro argued that the case presented by the US government should be dismissed since the Trump administration does not allow the Venezuelan government to cover the legal fees of the dictator and his wife, both represented by the powerful lawyer Barry Pollack, one of the most renowned in the country and former lawyer of the founder of WikiLeaks,
Julian Assange. The dictator Maduro handcuffed and arrested.
Trump blocks the use of funds stolen by Chavism for the defense of Maduro Because of the
U.S. sanctions still in place against Venezuela, Maduro's lawyers would need special permission from the U.S. government to receive money from Venezuela for legal expenses, something
that Trump refuses to grant him.
District Judge Alvin Hellerstein declined to dismiss the case and noted that the defense team's argument was not convincing, CNN reported. Hellerstein, however, said he would review the problem that Maduro says he does not have his own funds to pay his lawyers and that he will decide if the Trump administration should allow the narco-terrorist to access funds from the Venezuelan government that he once presided.
The prosecutor in charge of the case argued that the law does not allow a judge to order the U.S. government to grant a request from a foreign government for funding for legal defense. If Hellerstein were to order Trump to allow the Maduros' lawyers to accept a check from the Venezuelan government, the magistrate would be interfering in matters of U.S. national security and foreign policy
, according to the judicial official.
“If the purpose of the sanctions is because the defendants are looting Venezuela's wealth, it would undermine the sanctions to allow them to access those same funds now to pay for their defense,” argued the prosecutor who is trying to secure a conviction for a Maduro who is accused of conspiracy of narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine and the use of military-grade weapons for drug trafficking, among other charges.
