The US government has given approval for Venezuela to pay the legal fees of Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan president abducted and detained by the United States on January 3, according to AFP.
The US administration had previously prevented the Venezuelan state from paying the legal fees of the Maduro couple due to international sanctions on the country.
The defense of Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores had requested to annul the indictment, arguing that denying an accused person access to a lawyer of their choice is a violation of a right guaranteed by the sixth amendment of the US Constitution. However, the Treasury Department has removed this obstacle and will allow “the defense lawyers to receive payments from the government of Venezuela under certain conditions,” wrote New York prosecutor Jay Clayton in a letter to Judge Alvin Hellerstein on Friday. He stated that the defense acknowledges a concession and is currently withdrawing its request for annulment.
Maduro, taken in January in Caracas with his wife during a US military operation involving around 150 aircraft and helicopters in addition to ground troops, is facing four charges in the US: “narcoterrorism conspiracy,” “cocaine importation conspiracy,” “possession of firearms and destructive devices,” and “conspiracy to possess firearms and destructive devices,” according to Reuters.
The former president denies the accusations against him.
