The doubt is now cleared. The U.S. government has given its approval for Venezuela to pay the legal fees of Nicolas Maduro, the ousted Venezuelan president who is being held in the United States, according to a court document.
The U.S. administration had previously prevented the Venezuelan state from paying the legal fees of the Maduro couple, due to international sanctions imposed on the country.
Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores’ defense had taken action to try to overturn the indictment, arguing that denying an accused access to a lawyer of their choice is a violation of a right guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
But the Treasury Department has removed this obstacle and will allow “the defense lawyers to receive payments from the Venezuelan government under certain conditions,” wrote New York prosecutor Jay Clayton to Judge Alvin Hellerstein in a letter dated Friday. According to him, the defense acknowledges a concession and is withdrawing its request for cancellation at the moment.
Taken to Caracas on January 3 with his wife during a spectacular military operation by the U.S. military, involving around 150 aircraft and helicopters as well as ground troops, Nicolas Maduro is facing four charges in the U.S., including narco-terrorism. The former president denies the allegations against him.
The response from Judge Hellerstein, a 92-year-old magistrate experienced in major cases, will be closely watched, even though the radical choice of dismissing the charges seems very unlikely. The Maduros are being held in a high-security prison in the Brooklyn neighborhood of New York.
(With AFP)
