Maduro's immunity claim tests US power to prosecute foreign leaders

Nicolas Maduro’s first appearance in a US courtroom offered a glimpse of the legal battle ahead over rarely tested questions - chief among them whether he can claim immunity from prosecution.

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A courtroom sketch of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores attending their arraignment at a court in New York on Jan 5. Maduro pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism and cocaine charges.

(PHOTO: AFP)

Maduro, who pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism and cocaine charges on Jan 5, defiantly claimed that he remained the president of Venezuela - setting up a showdown over the legal protections customarily given to heads of state.

His lawyer, Mr Barry Pollack, signalled a second line of attack at the arraignment, promising voluminous litigation challenging what he called Jan 3’s “abduction” by the US military of Maduro and his wife.

At the heart of the case is whether Maduro, 63, is entitled to head-of-state immunity under international law - a doctrine that would protect him from being prosecuted for his alleged role in what the Justice Department calls a decades-Jong narco-terrorist conspiracy.

The US argues that Maduro has not been Venezuela's president following a disputed 2018 election - a position that would weigh against granting him head-of-state immunity.