Post #4782

Maduro à New York: Mortal Combat 🔠🅰️🔠🔠1️⃣ When Maduro appeared in court in New York on Monday, his choice of lawyer quickly raised eyebrows. The captured Venezuelan president was accompanied by Barry Pollack, a top-tier US trial lawyer who spent years representing Julian Assange, eventually securing the WikiLeaks founder’s release from prison in the UK in 2024. Pollack is a partner at Harris St Laurent & Wechsler, a law firm based on New York’s Wall Street in the financial district of lower Manhattan, just a few minutes walk from the federal court where Maduro pleaded not guilty to criminal charges on Monday. Pollack will take on a case as Maduro’s private counsel that could prove to be just as challenging as that of Assange. Maduro was charged on Monday with drug-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine-importation conspiracy, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, with the US government labelling Maduro a “narco-terrorist” and an “illegitimate president”. He faces up to life in prison. Harris St Laurent & Wechsler did not respond to requests for comment about Pollack’s involvement, but it is clear that in the legal world, he is highly regarded. According to Chambers USA, Pollack is a “thorough and deep-thinking lawyer” who “lives, breathes and sleeps trials, and has such a natural way in front of juries”. In his first appearance representing Maduro, Pollack questioned the legality of Maduro’s dramatic abduction by US forces on Saturday in a raid on the Venezuelan capital Caracas, CNN reported, and argued Maduro is entitled to immunity as the head of a sovereign state. Winning Maduro’s freedom will present a different challenge to Pollack compared to his work with Assange. The lawyer negotiated a plea deal on Assange’s behalf which allowed the Australian data-freedom activist to walk free, ending an international legal saga that lasted more than a decade. In the deal, Assange pleaded guilty to violating US espionage law in conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents. #maduro#trial#assange#pollack#newyork 📱American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸