Nicolás Maduro and his wife indicted for alleged torture of US citizens
The Guardian · L · trust 54/100
A courtroom sketch shows Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores attending their arraignment in New York City in January. Photograph: Jane Rosenberg/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen A courtroom sketch shows Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores attending their arraignment in New York City in January. Photograph: Jane Rosenberg/AFP/Getty Images Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro and his wife indicted for alleged torture of US citizens Ousted Venezuelan president and Cilia Flores have been in jail in New York since early January
Prefer the Guardian on Google The deposed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted for alleged conspiracy to commit torture, according to Manhattan federal court papers unsealed on Thursday.
The superseding indictment was unsealed shortly before Flores appeared at court in her ongoing push for pre-trial release – which was denied by Judge Alvin Hellerstein. Maduro and Flores have been held in a New York City jail since early January.
They were captured in a US military operation and transported to New York to face “narcoterrorism” charges in a move that sparked widespread international outrage. Maduro and Flores have previously pleaded not guilty in the criminal case against them.
CNN on Wednesday first reported that a new indictment was expected.
The new charging document described how Maduro and his wife allegedly used horrific tactics to suppress opposition and maintain their control.
They presided “over a system of repression that relied on violence against political opposition, arbitrary detention, and the torture of detainees, including United States citizens”, the charging document said.
“That torture included electric shock, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, prolonged isolation, starvation, punishment cells, and psychological torture, such as threats to harm and kill victims’ families, including children,” it added.
Maduro and Flores, the new indictment alleged, “sat atop that violent power structure”.
Flores was integral to this effort, authorities claimed, saying she “helped develop this system of repression and ordered that individuals be tortured to protect her family members’ illegal activities”.
The victims of their torture included US citizens “who were believed to pose a threat” to Maduro’s power.
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Read more “One particular United States citizen was detained in Venezuela and subjected to, among other things, deprivation of food and water, simulated drowning, repeated beatings, electric shock to his testicles, and forced injections.”
Amid news of this new indictment, Flores’s attorneys argued for her release, pitching house arrest guarded by 24-hour private security. In doing so, they invoked chronic health issues, including cardiac infirmities.
Hellerstein pushed back on this claim, noting that Flores was refusing to have catheterization while detained in general population.
“I’ve undergone it, so I know what it is,” Hellerstein said, noting that it was generally an outpatient procedure. “There’s no pain. There’s no general anesthesia.”
Flores’s attorney then pointed to her high blood pressure. “It’s controllable by pills,” Hellerstein said.
Her team also said in court that Flores dropped more than 25lb and lost two teeth since her detention.
“For whatever it’s worth, her appearance today is no worse than, and perhaps a little better, than when I first met with her [at] her arraignment,” Hellerstein said. Flores’s lawyer said that during her arraignment she was “still bandaged up” from her rough arrest.
The US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York opposed Flores’s now-failed bail request. They argued in court and legal filings that Flores presented an “extreme risk of flight and danger to the public”. Prosecutors also insisted that she had received adequate medical care.
Donald Trump has defended the controversial raid to Maduro, insisting it was a “surgical law enforcement operation”. At Maduro’s first US court appearance, he said: “I’m a kidnapped president – a prisoner of war!”
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