Maduro makes first appearance in US courtroom on drug trafficking charges
New York (AP): Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was making his first appearance in an American courtroom Monday on the narco-terrorism charges the Trump administration used to justify capturing him and bringing him to New York.
Maduro appeared around noon before a judge for a brief, but required, legal proceeding that will likely kick off a prolonged legal fight over whether he can be put on trial in the US.
The couple wife were transported under armed guard early Monday from the Brooklyn jail where they've been detained to a Manhattan courthouse.
The trip was swift. A motorcade carrying Maduro left jail around 7:15 am and made its way to a nearby athletic field, where Maduro slowly made his way to a waiting helicopter.
The chopper flew across New York harbour and landed at a Manhattan heliport, where Maduro, limping, was loaded into an armoured vehicle.
A few minutes later, the law enforcement caravan was inside a garage at the courthouse complex, just around the corner from the one where Donald Trump was convicted in 2024 of falsifying business records.
Across the street from the courthouse, the police separated a small but growing group of protesters from about a dozen pro-intervention demonstrators, including one man who pulled a Venezuelan flag away from those protesting the US action.
As a criminal defendant in the US legal system, Maduro will have the same rights as any other person accused of a crime — including the right to a trial by a jury of regular New Yorkers. But he'll also be nearly — but not quite — unique.
Maduro's lawyers are expected to contest the legality of his arrest, arguing that he is immune from prosecution as a sovereign head of state.
Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega unsuccessfully tried the same defence after the US captured him in a similar military invasion in 1990. But the US doesn't recognise Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate head of state — particularly after a much-disputed 2024 reelection.
Venezuela's new interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, has demanded that the US return Maduro, who long denied any involvement in drug trafficking — although late Sunday she also struck a more conciliatory tone in a social media post, inviting collaboration with President Trump and “respectful relations” with the US.
Before his capture, Maduro and his allies claimed US hostility was motivated by lust for Venezuela's rich oil and mineral resources.
The US seized Maduro and his wife in a military operation Saturday, capturing them in their home on a military base. Trump said the US would “run” Venezuela temporarily, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that it would not govern the country day-to-day other than enforcing an existing " oil quarantine."
Trump suggested Sunday that he wants to extend American power further in the Western Hemisphere.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, he called Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro, "a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States. And he's not going to be doing it very long.”
He called on Venezuela's Rodriguez to provide “total access” to her country, or else face consequences.
Trump has suggested that removing Maduro would enable more oil to flow out of Venezuela, but oil prices rose a bit more than 1 per cent in Monday morning trading to roughly USD 58 a barrel.
There are uncertainties about how fast oil production can be ramped up in Venezuela after years of neglect and needed investments, as well as questions about governance and oversight of the sector.
A 25-page indictment made public Saturday accuses Maduro and others of working with drug cartels to facilitate the shipment of thousands of tonnes of cocaine into the US, They could face life in prison if convicted.
It was unclear as of Sunday whether Maduro had hired a US lawyer yet.
He and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been under US sanctions for years, making it illegal for any American to take money from them without first securing a license from the Treasury Department.
While the indictment against Maduro says Venezuelan officials worked directly with the Tren de Aragua gang, a US intelligence assessment published in April, drawing on input from the intelligence community's 18 agencies, found no coordination between Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan government.
Maduro, his wife and his son — who remains free — are charged along with Venezuela's interior and justice minister, a former interior and justice minister and Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, an alleged Tren de Aragua leader who has been criminally charged in another case and remains at large.
Among other things, the indictment accuses Maduro and his wife of ordering kidnappings, beatings and murders of those who owed them drug money or undermined their drug trafficking operation. That included a local drug boss' killing in Caracas, the indictment said.
Maduro's wife is also accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in 2007 to arrange a meeting between “a large-scale drug trafficker” and the director of Venezuela's National Anti-Drug Office, resulting in additional monthly bribes, with some of the money going to Maduro's wife, according to the indictment.
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Teen allegedly raped in Kanpur; local journalist held, cop's role under scanner
Kanpur (UP)(PTI): A local journalist has been taken into custody and a police constable's role is also under investigation in connection with the alleged abduction and gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in Kanpur's Sachendi area, officials said on Wednesday amid allegations of police apathy by the victim's family
According to the complaint, the minor, a class 7 dropout, had stepped out of her home around 10 pm on Monday night when she was allegedly abducted by two men travelling in an SUV. One of the accused was wearing a police uniform.
The girl told the police that she was taken to a deserted location near a railway track in Sachendi, where she was allegedly sexually assaulted inside the vehicle for nearly two hours. She was later abandoned in an unconscious state outside her house, they said.
The victim's brother said he found her lying outside the house around midnight in a semi-conscious condition, according to the complaint. He said he immediately alerted the police by dialling 112, but alleged that no prompt action was taken.
The family later approached senior officials on Tuesday, following which an FIR was registered under sections related to kidnapping and gang rape.
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The girl's brother alleged that when the family informed the police personnel that one of the accused was a policeman, they were turned away from a local police outpost.
Only after approaching senior officers was the case registered, he claimed, adding that the names of the accused were initially omitted from the complaint.
The police said that efforts are on to identify and arrest the police constable, and stressed that the investigation is being conducted with complete transparency.
The victim has undergone a medical examination and the report is awaited, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Dinesh Tripathi said.
"An FIR was initially registered against unknown persons under sections related to abduction and gang rape apart from under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act," Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Dinesh Tripathi told PTI.
Initially, the case was registered on the basis of the complaint against two unidentified accused persons, he said.
"During the investigation, the involvement of a police constable and a local journalist identified as Shivbaran came to light. The journalist has been taken into custody and is currently being questioned," he said.
"His arrest will be made after the interrogation is completed," the DCP said, adding efforts are on to identify and arrest the police constable involved in the case.
"All necessary steps are being taken, and the investigation is being conducted with complete transparency," Tripathi said.
