The US justice department of justice on Thursday announced new charges against ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, accusing them of torturing American citizens and others held in Venezuela to repress opposition and preserve their power.
The charges, which were unsealed in federal court in Manhattan, adding to accusations already levied by the government against Maduro (63), and Flores (69).
They already face charges of conspiring to commit narco-terrorism and import cocaine, along with other crimes, which they have pleaded not guilty to. Both are scheduled to go on trial in June.
The 30-page indictment released Thursday includes a new count charging Maduro and Flores of conspiracy to commit torture. It says that from at least 1999 through 2025, the couple and high-level Venezuelan officials inflicted severe physical and mental pain to punish members of the political opposition, silence dissent and protect their authority.
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One official ordered the murder of opponents of the Maduro regime, oversaw torture and personally threatened the murder of a prisoner’s child, the indictment said. - The New York Times
Another senior Venezuelan officer who reported directly to Maduro developed torture methods that he presented for Maduro’s approval and led an agency responsible for torturing scores of victims, according to the indictment. A third official personally ordered and participated in the torture of civilians and military members, including U. citizens, who were believed to pose a threat to Maduros’s rule, the document said.
Maduro’s and Flores’ lawyers have argued that they should not be prosecuted in a US court, on the grounds of sovereign immunity. The judge overseeing the case, Alvin K Hellerstein, has yet to rule on their motions to dismiss on those grounds.
