#Maduro is standing & speaking in Spanish, saying he was captured at his home in Caracas, #Venezuela.

“I am innocent, I am not guilty, I am a decent man, I am still president of my country,” Maduro said speaking rapidly. Judge #Hellerstein interrupts, telling him “there will be time & place to get into all of this,” & for now he is asking only for his identity. Maduro repeats that he is, in fact, Nicolás Maduro Moros.

#MafiaState #law #criminal #Trump #abduction #oil #InternationalLaw 🧵

#Maduro is standing & speaking in Spanish, saying he was captured at his home in Caracas, #Venezuela.

“I am innocent, I am not guilty, I am a decent man, I am still president of my country,” Maduro said speaking rapidly. Judge #Hellerstein interrupts, telling him “there will be time & place to get into all of this,” & for now he is asking only for his identity. Maduro repeats that he is, in fact, Nicolás Maduro Moros.

#MafiaState #law #criminal #Trump #abduction #oil #InternationalLaw 🧵

Judge #Hellerstein says that it is his job to ensure a fair proceeding & a fair #trial, if it comes to that. “That’s my job & that’s my intent,” he says. He is now summarizing the indictment.

The judge asks #Maduro to identify himself. Maduro does so, in Spanish, calling himself the president of the republic of #Venezuela, & saying he is here, “ #kidnapped.”

#MafiaState #law #criminal #Trump #abduction #CiliaFlores #Venezuela #oil #sovereignty #InternationalLaw 🧵

Judge Hellerstein has entered the courtroom & proceedings are beginning. #Maduro has appeared, wearing a shortlseeve navy shirt over orange jail garb. His hair is streaked with grey & he is taking notes.

Maduro is wearing black over-the-ear headphones for translation, as is his wife, #CiliaFlores, who is sitting 2 seats away from him in a similar same navy & orange outfit. Both have shackles around their ankles.

#MafiaState #law #criminal #Trump #Venezuela #oil #sovereignty #InternationalLaw 🧵

5 “overflow” courtrooms where spectators would be able to watch the proceedings on large screens are set up to be filled as needed after the actual courtroom was filled.

#Maduro is charged in a narco-terrorism conspiracy & a conspiracy to import cocaine, among other charges, & will likely plead not guilty.

#MafiaState #law #criminal #Trump #CiliaFlores #Venezuela #oil #sovereignty #InternationalLaw 🧵

Mark E. Donnelly, a lawyer from Houston, will be representing Maduro’s wife, #CiliaFlores. Donnelly is a former federal prosecutor & is now in private practice with a Houston law firm.

There are nearly 2X as many journalists as the 3-dozen members of the public who were kept in a line in the hallway prior to the opening of the courtroom where #Maduro & Flores are to make their initial appearance.

#MafiaState #law #criminal #Trump #Venezuela #oil #sovereignty #InternationalLaw 🧵

#Maduro & wife #CiliaFlores are about to appear in court.

The Maduros’ appearance in Federal District Court in Manhattan could be brief. He & his wife, who are being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, are expected to enter pleas of not guilty, & a judge will almost certainly order them detained. It could be well over a year before a jury is seated to weigh the evidence against them.

Here again is the indictment →
https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1422326/dl

#law #criminal #Trump #Venezuela #oil 🧵