THIS IS MADURO’S DEFENSE PLAN: He Claims He Is a Victim of a Military Kidnapping, Represented by Assange’s Lawyer!

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will most likely defend himself at the trial on charges of drug and arms trafficking, which began today in New York, by claiming that his arrest constitutes a “military kidnapping” and that the law was thereby violated, CNN reports.

“I was seized in my home in Caracas, in Venezuela,” Maduro told a federal court judge in Manhattan today.

Maduro’s statement signals what will likely be one of the main strategies of his defense—that his arrest in the middle of the night in a foreign country by U.S. law enforcement authorities was a “military kidnapping,” which, according to his lawyer, violated the law, CNN writes.

This is not the first time a defendant has raised this argument, and more than three decades ago Panamanian President Manuel Noriega accused the United States of violating both international law and due process protections through the invasion of Panama and his arrest abroad.

That argument did not help Noriega, as U.S. courts refused to consider the legality of the invasion of Panama itself and focused solely on the allegations in Noriega’s indictment, and it remains to be seen whether courts will revisit that precedent in Maduro’s case.

It is unusual for a criminal defendant to say anything to the judge at an initial appearance, as defense attorneys usually warn their clients that anything they say can be used in their prosecution, CNN adds.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein issued a similar warning to Maduro today as the Venezuelan president spoke at his first court appearance.

On Saturday, January 3, around two hours after midnight local time, the United States arrested Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a military operation in Caracas. They were transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York, where they will be held while standing trial on charges of drug and arms trafficking.

OVO JE ŽENA KOJA JE PREUZELA ZEMLJU U TRENUTKU HAOSA: Delsi Rodrigez položila zakletvu kao privremena predsednica Venecuele!

Analyst: He Will Challenge the Legality of the Detention

Analyst John Miller said today that before the trial even reaches evidence regarding the charges against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, his lawyers will most likely argue that he is not legally in custody at all.

“The first thing Maduro’s legal team will do is attack the arrest and the legitimacy of his detention,” Miller said, CNN reports.

Maduro’s lawyer Barry Pollack, who previously also represented Julian Assange, told the judge in court today that there are issues with the legitimacy of his client’s military kidnapping.

As Miller notes, Maduro himself told the court that he was captured in his home and insisted that he is still the president of Venezuela, which is another point his legal team will likely emphasize at the outset of the proceedings.

Pollack told the judge that Maduro is the head of a sovereign state and is entitled to the privileges and immunity that come with that position.

This, however, is disputed, as the United States does not recognize Maduro, or his regime, as the legitimate government following several disputed elections, CNN assesses.