Maduro pleads not guilty to new torture-related charges in New York

"I reject this document entirely," Maduro said in court, responding to newly added torture-related charges. Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are seen in a federal court in New York in July. Venezuela's former leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared in court on Thursday to plead not guilty to new charges of conspiracy to commit torture. The US government initially accused Maduro of narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and weapons-related offenses, before adding new charges against him and Flores last week. Maduro and Flores were captured in January during a US military raid, after which they were taken to New York, where they remain in jail.

The couple has pleaded not guilty to the allegations and both have argued to have the case thrown out on the grounds that they qualify for sovereign immunity. Their trial is scheduled for June 2027. In a new indictment last week, government prosecutors alleged Maduro and Flores "created and maintained a violent system of repression" that saw "thousands of Venezuelans" killed, harassed, and tortured. Nicolas Maduro denied the new charges brought against him by the US government, telling a court on Thursday he denied the "false accusations and false testimony against me." "I reject this document entirely," Maduro said in Spanish through a translator. Judge Alvin Hellerstein interrupted Maduro,