Venezuela’s Maduro asserts immunity in US court, urges dismissal of charges

What the report says

Former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has asked a U.S. federal judge in Manhattan to throw out criminal drug trafficking charges, arguing that he is protected by head-of-state immunity. His lawyer, Barry Pollack, filed the motion before District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is overseeing the case and had set a deadline for the dismissal request.

According to the Reuters report carried by Al Jazeera, Maduro was abducted and jailed on January 3 after a U.S.-authorized military raid in Caracas. He is being held in a federal jail in Brooklyn, has pleaded not guilty, and is currently set for trial on June 1, 2027 if the case proceeds. Prosecutors have until October 2 to respond, and the judge has scheduled a hearing for November 17.

The defense argues that international law shields sitting heads of state from criminal prosecution abroad and that the alleged conduct was part of Maduro’s official duties. Pollack also says the U.S. cannot deny Maduro’s status while recognizing his ally and former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, who has been running Venezuela in the interim.

The case matters because it could test how U.S. courts treat claims of sovereign immunity in a rare criminal prosecution involving a foreign leader. Reuters noted that legal experts see Maduro as facing a difficult path, especially because Washington has not recognized him as Venezuela’s president for years and has disputed recent elections there.