Ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro stood in a Manhattan federal courtroom on Thursday and refused, twice, to answer when a judge asked for his plea on a rewritten indictment accusing him of running a torture campaign against political opponents, including three American citizens. "I reject this document in its entirety," Maduro told U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, calling the new allegations false. The judge entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.

His wife, former Venezuelan First Lady Cilia Flores, answered more directly. "I am completely innocent. I am not guilty," she told the court, according to ABC News.

The superseding indictment, unsealed last week and formally answered at Thursday's hearing, adds a single count of conspiracy to commit torture against Maduro and two counts — torture conspiracy and narcoterrorism — against Flores. Prosecutors allege the scheme dates back to 2013, when Maduro first took power, and describe detainees subjected to beatings, electric shocks and asphyxiation inside Venezuelan prisons. According to the indictment, Maduro personally recommended torture methods, received updates on victims' treatment, and in one instance threatened to kill a prisoner's child as a form of psychological torture.

New Trial Date, Old Fight Over Immunity

The case, filed in the Southern District of New York, is an addition to the narcoterrorism, cocaine-importation and weapons charges Maduro and Flores have faced since their January capture and transfer to U.S. custody, when they were arraigned before the same judge and first pleaded not guilty. Both have been held at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center since then. Hellerstein on Thursday pushed the trial date back two weeks, to June 14, 2027, to accommodate the new charges, according to NBC News, which cited The Associated Press.

Maduro's lawyer, Barry Pollack — who previously represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange — told the court the new schedule was "very aggressive" but that he intended to meet it. Defense attorneys for both Maduro and Flores have signaled they will seek to have the entire case dismissed, arguing head-of-state and diplomatic immunity should shield a former president and first lady from U.S. prosecution, a claim prosecutors reject.

Coverage of Thursday's hearing was confirmed across multiple outlets, including CP24 and The Washington Times, both reporting Maduro's in-court denial and the judge's decision to enter the plea for him.

"I REJECT THIS DOCUMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY."

If convicted on the full slate of charges across both indictments, Maduro and Flores each face decades in federal prison, with legal analysts noting the torture count alone could carry a lengthy mandatory sentence. The next pretrial hearing is expected before the end of the year, with both sides due to file motions on the immunity question in the coming weeks. For now, the case moves forward on two tracks — the original narco-terrorism charges and the newly added torture conspiracy — with Maduro and Flores remaining in federal custody in Brooklyn pending trial next June.