US authorities have charged former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro with torture and other crimes in a new indictment unsealed Thursday, adding human rights allegations to the drug trafficking charges he already faces.
Maduro was previously charged with taking part in a conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the United States. The new indictment accuses him of human rights abuses committed during his presidency of the oil-rich South American country.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been held in a New York jail since early January after US forces seized them from their home in Caracas during a nighttime raid.
Both have pleaded not guilty to criminal charges filed years ago against them and several alleged co-conspirators. They had faced potential life imprisonment if convicted on the drug trafficking charges.
The new indictment increases legal pressure on Maduro, who served as Venezuela's president from 2013 until his capture by US forces in January.
Meanwhile, Flores was due to appear in court Thursday as her lawyers seek her release from jail and placement under house arrest, citing her heart condition.
Flores' lawyers, who say she is 69, have argued that her medical problems cannot be adequately treated in jail and that she should instead be allowed to stay at a New York residence under round-the-clock security.
They said Flores suffered permanent scarring after being “thrown against a wall or dresser” during the US military operation in which she and Maduro were captured.
Her lawyers also said she had lost 25 pounds (11 kilogrammes) during her detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and had been told she might require heart surgery. They said she continues to experience lightheadedness, dizziness and shortness of breath and may have suffered a minor heart attack in July.
Prosecutors have opposed her release, arguing in a court filing that Flores would pose an “extreme risk of flight and danger to the public” if freed. They said she had been taken to a local hospital from the jail when medical treatment was required.
The lawyers for Flores have argued that she poses no flight risk because she is “intent on supporting her husband with her constant presence.”
Flores is also charged with participating with Maduro in a conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States.
The lawyers representing Maduro and Flores have sought dismissal of the case, arguing that the couple are entitled to immunity as the former leader and first lady of a foreign country.
The administration of President Donald Trump has defended the operation that led to Maduro's capture, describing it as a “surgical law enforcement operation.” Maduro, however, has described himself as a prisoner of war and his capture as a kidnapping.