Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro pleads not guilty as torture indictment adds new charges

Court enters not guilty pleas

Maduro challenged the newly unsealed allegations in court, calling them “false accusations and false testimony.” Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein then entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Flores spoke through a Spanish interpreter and told the judge she was innocent. The couple appeared in court eight months after they were seized from their home in Caracas during a US military raid; they are now held in New York City.

Alleged campaign of repression

The indictment accuses Maduro and Flores of helping lead a state-sponsored campaign that tortured scores of victims while he was president. The alleged victims include three Americans, and prosecutors say the abuses were part of an effort to keep the couple in power.

Security forces are accused of using electric shocks, beatings and asphyxiation against prisoners at Maduro’s direction. He is also accused of suggesting torture techniques, receiving reports about individual victims and threatening to kill a prisoner’s child.

Flores is accused of helping build the repressive system and ordering torture against specific people, according to the indictment. The new allegations have been added to the drug-trafficking charges already brought against the pair.

Trial date and wider context

The judge approved a schedule setting the trial to begin on June 14, 2027. Human rights groups have for years accused Venezuelan officials of torturing detainees; the US indictment is the first occasion on which Maduro could face accountability over these allegations.

Maduro is also under investigation by the International Criminal Court over alleged crimes against humanity connected to a crackdown on opponents. The court has not issued him a warrant.