The drug trial against ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro continues in the United States. On Thursday in New York, the responsible judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected a request from the defense to stop the proceedings. Maduro’s lawyers justified this with the US government blocking funding for defense. However, Hellerstein questioned this. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who was also charged, appeared in court wearing beige prison uniforms.
Maduro’s lawyers had argued that denying access to Venezuelan government funds to pay for the defense violated the right to choose a lawyer enshrined in the US Constitution. Judge Hellerstein questioned the prosecution’s reasoning, which had justified the blocking of the funds on the grounds of national security. Maduro and Flores pose no further threat to national security, the judge said. “The right that is affected here and that stands above other rights is the right to constitutional assistance.”
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According to the Kremlin, a group of Russian Duma deputies traveled to the USA to improve relations between Moscow and Washington. “We, of course, hope that these first cautious steps will contribute to the further revival of our bilateral relations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday. A meeting with US lawmakers is expected later this week, Russian media reported.
