Maduro's lawyers seek dismissal of US drug charges citing head-of-state immunity
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Venezuelan ex-president Nicolas Maduro, detained in New York, has asked a Manhattan judge to throw out drug-trafficking charges, arguing that international law grants him immunity as a former head of state.
Nicolas Maduro, the ousted president of Venezuela who has been held in a Brooklyn federal jail since a U.S. raid in January, asked District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to dismiss a criminal drug-trafficking indictment. His attorney, Barry Pollack, filed a motion asserting that Maduro, as a former sovereign leader, enjoys absolute immunity from prosecution abroad and that the alleged conduct formed part of his official duties.
"This unprecedented prosecution violates the absolute immunity from criminal jurisdiction to which heads of state and foreign officials acting in their official capacities have been entitled for hundreds of years," Pollack wrote.
Pollack also contended that the United States’ claim that Maduro’s post-2019 presidency lacks legitimacy does not affect his entitlement to immunity. The U.S. Justice Department has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Legal analysts note that cases involving former foreign heads of state are rare and that prior rulings, such as the 1990 rejection of former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega’s immunity claim, offer little precedent in Maduro’s favor. Washington stopped recognizing Maduro as Venezuela’s president in 2019 and has labeled his 2024 re-election fraudulent, though Maduro maintains the elections were legitimate.
Prosecutors have until October 2 to answer the motion, and a hearing on the dismissal request is scheduled for November 17.