Us Grants Maduro Access To Funds For Defence In Criminal Case

NEW YORK: US officials reversed themselves and will now allow Nicolas Maduro and his wife to pay lawyers with Venezuelan funds as they defend themselves in the drug-trafficking case against them in New York.

The reversal clears a roadblock that had stalled the prosecution of the former Venezuelan president and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were captured in early January in a raid of their home in Caracas and brought to the US.

US officials barred them from using Venezuelan funds to pay for their defence, arguing it would undermine sanctions against the country.

The couple claimed that this infringed on their right to a fair trial and argued that the indictment against them should therefore be dismissed.

At a hearing in March, US district judge Alvin Hellerstein questioned the prosecution’s refusal to let the Venezuelan government to pay for Maduro’s legal defence. The judge noted that the US is doing business with Venezuela and that Maduro and his wife are no longer in that country.

Late Friday, Manhattan US attorney Jay Clayton informed the court that the Office of Foreign Assets Control had issued the couple amended licenses that allows them to tap Venezuelan funds. With the funding issue resolved, the couple agreed to withdraw their request to dismiss the case, Clayton told the court.

Prosecutors claim Maduro played a key role in a conspiracy to traffic cocaine into the US. They also allege that Maduro and others partnered with groups designated by the US as foreign terrorist organisations and that he sought to enrich himself while serving in government during a span of more than two decades.

Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty.

Clayton asked the court to set a status hearing the case in about 60 days.