Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have requested that all charges against them be dropped on grounds of diplomatic immunity, arguing that only Venezuelan courts can prosecute them. Their attorneys claim that no American court has ever tried a foreign leader who was recognized as the sitting head of state at the time the charges were brought. The couple is scheduled to go on trial in June next year for alleged drug trafficking and conspiracy, with prosecutors seeking potential life prison sentences if they are found guilty. Maduro's lawyers also argue that he has sovereign immunity as the head of state, which would exempt him from US prosecution.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-03,
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same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Nicolás Maduro, the former president of Venezuela, and his wife Cilia Flores have asked a federal judge in the United States to dismiss the drug-trafficking charges against them, citing diplomatic immunity as heads of state. According to court documents, their lawyers argue that no American court has ever tried a foreign leader who was recognized by their own country as head of state at the time the charges were brought, and therefore this judge lacks jurisdiction over Maduro. The indictment against them, which includes allegations of drug trafficking, was unsealed in January 2026. They are scheduled to go on trial next year.
Written for “Maduro's Drug Trafficking Charges” on 2026-09-03,
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Leaning score +0.35 for article 3591 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-09-03
Maduro who has called himself a “prisoner of war” and his capture a “kidnapping” has requested all charges against him and his wife be dropped on grounds of diplomatic immunity.
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charges → call → immunity
Their attorneys argued that only Venezuelan courts have the right to prosecute them.
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courts → argue → them
Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, asked a judge on Wednesday to dismiss the drug trafficking indictment against them on the grounds that they have immunity as the leader and first lady of a foreign country.
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they → ask → country
In papers filed in Manhattan federal court, Maduro’s attorneys said a judge was required by law to reject the indictment because it cannot be brought against a foreign leader.
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it → file → leader
“No American court has ever presided over the criminal trial of a foreign leader who was recognised by their own country as the sitting head of state at the time the charges were brought,” the lawyers wrote.
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lawyers → preside → time
It reflects a rule older than the common law: heads of state are exempt from the criminal process of any national court but their own.
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heads → reflect → court
Maduro and his wife are scheduled to go on trial on drug trafficking charges on 1 June next year.
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Maduro → schedule → June
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has set oral arguments on motions to begin on 17 November to dismiss the indictment.
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Hellerstein → set → indictment
Maduro, 63, and his wife, Cilia Flores, 69, have been held at a Brooklyn jail since US forces seized them from their Caracas home in a middle-of-the-night raid in early January and brought them to New York.
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forces → hold → York
In separate papers filed Wednesday, lawyers for Flores said she too has immunity from U.S. prosecution on sovereign immunity grounds.
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she → file → grounds
“It is an attribute of Venezuela’s sovereignty, and only Venezuela may surrender it,” her lawyers wrote.
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lawyers → surrender → it
Maduro's lawyers said that even if Maduro were not entitled to sovereign immunity as the head of state, the case against him must be dismissed because he is also entitled to conduct-based sovereign immunity.
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he → say → immunity
Meanwhile, the lawyers argued, Maduro “vehemently denies the allegations against him.”
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Maduro → argue → him
“If this case were to proceed to trial, it would be apparent that he has been falsely accused,” they said.
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they → proceed → trial
Both Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty in a criminal case first brought six years ago against numerous alleged co-conspirators.
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Maduro → plead → conspirators
They face potential life prison sentences if a jury agrees that they were part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the United States.
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they → face → States
Federal prosecutors are scheduled to file a response to the arguments later this month.
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prosecutors → schedule → arguments
US President Donald Trump’s administration has defended the raid to capture Maduro as a “surgical law enforcement operation."
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administration → defend → operation
Maduro has called himself a prisoner of war and his capture a kidnapping.
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capture → call → war
Prosecutors say Maduro carried out a conspiracy to move thousands of tonnes of cocaine into the US by colluding with Venezuelan law enforcement to help drug kingpins.
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Maduro → say → kingpins
