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Maduro asks to dismiss the US case after being denied a license to pay for his defense
New York.– The deposed Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, asked this Thursday through his lawyer, Barry Pollack, that the case for drug trafficking and corruption against him in the United States be dismissed after the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) denied him the license to pay for his defense with funds from Venezuela that he claimed yesterday.
OFAC “has refused to reconsider its position and will not grant a license that allows the Government of Venezuela to finance the defense, thus interfering with Mr. Maduro’s right to hire the lawyer of his choice,” with which it requests the court “to dismiss the fourth amended indictment against him”, the arguments of the motion on the judicial platform indicated.
The documentation included a sworn statement from Maduro in which he claims that he wants to continue being represented by Pollack, is entitled to have the Venezuelan government pay for his legal defense and cannot afford his own defense, so he will present financial evidence of this if required.
In the memorandum supporting the motion, Pollack repeated his complaint from yesterday before Judge Alvin Hellerstein and argued that OFAC, which depends on the Department of the Treasury, is “interfering” with the right to defense, enshrined in the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution, and Maduro’s right to due process.
“The U.S. government, even as it authorizes countless commercial transactions with Venezuela, is prohibiting the defense from receiving untainted funds” from Caracas to finance its fees, and “any trial held under these circumstances will be constitutionally flawed and cannot produce a verdict that will withstand future challenges”, Pollack warned.
Maduro stated in his declaration that “the Government of Venezuela is willing to finance that defense and he hoped that would happen”, which is why he counted on Pollack, his “trusted lawyer”, in his first hearing on January 5th, and “since then they have worked together”.
For his part, the lawyer for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Henry Rodríguez Facchinetti, corroborates that Caracas has the “clear and legal obligation to cover all the expenses of its president, including lawyers’ fees”, and in this regard assured that “he wishes to comply” and “is prepared to pay the costs of defense”, specifying that the money is legitimate.
“Furthermore, I confirm that the funds that (Caracas) would use in this matter are not related to any of the activities alleged in the fourth amended indictment or to any other illegal activity,” Facchinetti added.
Pollack also stated that if Judge Hellerstein does not agree to dismiss the case, he will “reluctantly” request permission to withdraw as Maduro’s lawyer.
Both Maduro and the Venezuelan government are subject to U.S. sanctions, so the lawyer requested a license from OFAC to receive funds for his defense work, which he received on January 9, but less than three hours later the agency issued an amended license that blocks the transaction, as reported.
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