Nicolas Maduro is trying to get his ‘unprecedented’ indictment tossed out of court
The deposed Venezuelan leader argues he's immune from prosecution as a foreign head of state.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has asked a federal judge in New York to dismiss his unprecedented indictment, claiming he is protected from criminal prosecution as a foreign head of state. His lawyers, Barry Pollack and Anna Estevao, argue that the prosecution violates the centuries-old principle of absolute immunity for heads of state and officials acting in their official capacities.
The indictment accuses Maduro of narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges, which his lawyers claim is a "political act" designed to enable prosecution. They maintain that Maduro's immunity applies because the alleged criminal acts were performed in his official capacity as the de facto head of state, and because the conduct alleged in the charges consists of official acts undertaken on behalf of a sovereign nation.
Maduro's lawyers cite the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity, which holds that courts may not inquire into the President's motives when determining what qualifies as official conduct. Therefore, they argue, the court must determine if Maduro's actions were official acts without assessing whether they were illegal.
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