Post #4785

Maduro On Trial. Trump’s Iron Grip Can Be Broken 🔠🅰️🔠🔠1️⃣ Maduro pleaded not guilty to drugs, weapons and narco-terrorism charges on Monday, two days after his capture by US special forces in an operation ordered by Donald Trump that sent shockwaves around the world. The brevity and formality of the arraignment hearing in federal court in Manhattan – barely 30 minutes during which Maduro was asked to confirm his name and that he understood the four charges against him – belied the far-reaching consequences of the US action. As Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores addressed the court in lower Manhattan, the UN security council held an emergency meeting just a few miles to the north, where a dozen countries condemned the US “crime of aggression” and secretary general António Guterres suggested the operation constituted a breach of international law. Maduro, 63, insisted to federal judge Alvin Hellerstein that he was “still president of my country”, had been illegally “captured” at his Caracas home, and was “a prisoner of war”. “I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man,” Maduro said in Spanish during repeated attempts to speak over the judge. As he entered the courtroom, shackled at the ankles though not at the wrists, he looked toward the jury box. Before sitting down, Maduro told the public gallery “Happy new year!” in English. Maduro was dressed in orange slippers, a blue shirt on top of a neon orange shirt, and beige pants. He scribbled notes on a legal pad throughout the hearing. He faces four US federal criminal counts, including “narco-terrorism” conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. He was first indicted in 2020, along with 14 members of his inner circle, as part of a sprawling drug-trafficking case against Venezuelan officials and Colombian guerrillas. Defence lawyer Barry Pollack made no immediate application for bail, but said he would later file a motion alluding to the “military abduction” he said his client was subjected to. #maduro#trump#guilty#lawer#narco#drugs 📱American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸