Maduro asks US court to dismiss his drug charges

Ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro asked a US federal judge on Wednesday to throw out drug-trafficking and narco-terrorism charges against him. His lawyers say he is immune from prosecution as the head of a sovereign state.

The case sits in Manhattan federal court before Judge Alvin Hellerstein. The indictment was the legal basis for the US raid on Caracas on 3 January that seized Maduro. He has been held in a Brooklyn federal jail, has pleaded not guilty, and is due to stand trial on 1 June 2027 if the dismissal fails.

Defence lawyer Barry Pollack argued that Hellerstein lacks jurisdiction because sitting heads of state enjoy absolute immunity under international law, and because the alleged acts would have been official duties. Maduro "vehemently denies" the charges, the filing said.

Prosecutors have until 2 October to respond. A hearing on the dismissal motion is set for 17 November.

This is the first big legal test of whether US courts will treat Maduro as a former or current head of state after a military capture. Immunity for leaders is a long-settled idea in diplomacy. US criminal courts have often been reluctant to apply it the way Maduro wants.

For India and other oil importers, the politics sit next to the Hormuz and Iran story already in the paper. A long prosecution keeps Venezuela unsettled. A dismissal would be a sharp rebuke of the raid.

October's government brief and the November hearing are the near dates. If immunity fails, the June 2027 trial date stays the main clock.