New U.S. indictment charges former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro with torture

Federal prosecutors in New York have added torture charges against Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's former president, and his wife, Cilia Flores. The superseding indictment, announced Thursday, portrays the couple as running a state apparatus that used violence on detainees, including three Americans. It deepens the legal trouble facing two people the U. S. military removed from their Caracas home in January to answer drug trafficking charges, to which both have pleaded not guilty, according to PBS NewsHour.

Prosecutors allege that Maduro, worried about unrest among military officers after taking office in 2013, let the DGCIM intelligence service torture perceived threats. They say he proposed methods, requested progress reports, and once threatened a prisoner's child. Flores, a former attorney general, is accused of helping design the system and ordering abuse of particular people. Maduro's lawyer, Barry Pollack, said his client denies the charges. Flores' attorney said he had not yet reviewed them, and a judge denied her request for house arrest.

One American victim appears to be Osman Khan, who the indictment says endured electric shocks during eight months in custody. Khan and Matthew Heath later obtained a $300 million default judgment in May.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →