<\/p>\n
The sound of clanking leg shackles could be heard moments before Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro walked into the door of a New York City courtroom for the first time.<\/p>\n
He then told packed rows of reporters and the public that he had just been “kidnapped”. <\/p>\n
Minutes after his entrance, the Judge Alvin Hellerstein asked Maduro to confirm his identity so the proceedings could start. <\/p>\n
“I am, sir, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. I am president of the Republic of Venezuela and I am here kidnapped since January 3rd,” he told the court in a calm Spanish before an interpreter translated for the court. “I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela.” <\/p>\n
The 92-year-old judge quickly interjected to tell Maduro that there would be a “time and a place to get into all of this”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
During the dramatic 40-minute arraignment on Monday afternoon, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty to drugs and weapon charges. <\/p>\n
“I’m innocent. I’m a decent man,” Maduro said, with Flores adding that she was “completely innocent”. <\/p>\n
The 63-year-old and his wife were transferred to a New York jail after they were arrested by US forces at their compound in Venezuela on Saturday, as part of a surprise overnight operation that also saw strikes on military bases.<\/p>\n
Dressed in blue and orange jail shirts and khaki pants, the two wore headphones to listen to a Spanish translation during the hearing, an attorney sitting between them. Maduro took meticulous notes on a yellow legal pad that he asked a judge to confirm that he could keep with him after the hearing. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
When Maduro walked into the room – the same federal courtroom where Sean “Diddy” Combs was tried and convicted just months earlier – he turned around to nod at several members of the audience and greet them. <\/p>\n
He maintained this calm and expressionless demeanour during the proceedings, even at the end, when a man watching from the public area suddenly shouted that Maduro would “pay” for his crimes. <\/p>\n
“I’m a president and prisoner of war,” he shouted towards the man in the audience in Spanish. The man was then escorted out of the room in tears.<\/p>\n
The proceedings were emotional for others in the court as well. Maibort Petit, a reporter from Venezuela who has covered Maduro’s administration, said the US missile strikes during Maduro’s arrest damaged her family home near Fuerte Tiuna in Caracas.<\/p>\n
She said it was surreal to watch her former leader escorted into court in prison garb by US marshals. <\/p>\n
Maduro’s wife, Flores, was much quieter, with bandages near her eyes and forehead for injuries her lawyers said she sustained during their weekend arrest. <\/p>\n
She spoke softly with her blonde hair tied back in a bun while her lawyers asked that she be given proper medical treatment, including an xray of potentially bruised ribs and a fracture. <\/p>\n
Maduro and his wife did not seek bail during the proceedings, but can do so at a later date, meaning they will remain in federal custody. <\/p>\n
The US has accused Maduro of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.<\/p>\n
Maduro was charged alongside his wife, son and several others. The next court hearing in the case has been scheduled for 17 March.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#prisoner #war<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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