NEW YORK (Dispatches) - 
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has urged a U.S. judge to dismiss criminal charges against him, arguing that he is protected by immunity as the head of a sovereign state.
“The court lacks jurisdiction over the prosecution of Mr. Maduro and must dismiss the indictment against him,” his lawyer said in a document filed with the judge.
Maduro possesses both head-of-state immunity and immunity regarding actions taken in his official capacity, it said, adding that the Venezuelan president was falsely accused and “vehemently denies” the allegations.
Maduro pleaded not guilty to all charges, including drug trafficking and firearms, in Manhattan federal court after the forcible seizure by US troops in a US military raid in early January.
He is scheduled to go on trial starting on June 1, 2027, if his effort to dismiss the case fails.
“This unprecedented prosecution violates the absolute immunity from criminal jurisdiction to which heads of state and foreign officials acting in their official capacities have been entitled for hundreds of years,” Pollack wrote.
Pollack wrote that Maduro was falsely accused and “vehemently denies” the allegations.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, which brought the charges, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Legal experts have told Reuters that Maduro faces an uphill battle. Washington has not recognized Maduro as Venezuela’s president since 2019, and courts tend to defer to the U.S. president and his cabinet in disputes over who is recognized as a foreign country’s leader.
U.S. criminal cases involving heads of foreign states are extremely rare, but precedent offers little encouragement for Maduro. In 1990, a federal judge in Miami rejected former Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega’s attempt to assert head-of-state immunity in part because he never officially held the title of president.
Pollack wrote that Washington’s assessment that Maduro lacked legitimacy was not relevant.
“Unlike in Noriega, the Executive Branch does not dispute that Mr. Maduro was Venezuela’s head of state, but instead merely claims that, after 2019, he did not occupy that position legitimately,” Pollack wrote.
Since Maduro’s capture, his vice president and socialist ally Delcy Rodriguez has run Venezuela and increased cooperation with the Trump administration. Last month, the two countries reached an unprecedented deal that would see the U.S. take over around one-fifth of Venezuela’s oil reserves.
Pollack wrote that it was “incongruous” for the United States to recognize Rodriguez, who was appointed by Maduro, and not Maduro. He pointed to statements by Rodriguez and officials in her government in January and February indicating that they still considered Maduro Venezuela’s legitimate head of state.
Rodriguez’s government has since gone silent on the matter. Some murals of Maduro in Caracas have been painted over in recent months.
Prosecutors have until October 2 to respond to Maduro’s motion to dismiss the indictment, and Hellerstein will hold a hearing on the dismissal effort on November 17.