Venezuelan President Maduro says he is a 'prisoner of war' and is "Still the president"
Handcuffed and wearing tan coloured prison clothing Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were surrounded by heavy security as they were moved from a Brooklyn prison to the courthouse in Manhattan.
They were deliberately paraded in front of live TV cameras as the couple were first driven in convoy to a heliport, where they were flanked by heavily armed police and federal agents as they were transferred onto a helicopter. Maduro appeared to be limping slightly as he was made to bend over and bow his head whilst boarding the chopper.
Maduro and his wife are facing charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy and weapons charges.
The indictment against them states that for more than 25 years they have enriched themselves by working with international drug traffickers to ship illicit drugs into the US.
In the past hour they have both plead not guilty to the charges against them.
Speaking in Spanish, Maduro called himself the president of Venezuela and complained that he had been captured from his home in Caracas before he was interrupted by the judge.
The American attorney general, Pam Bondi, has said the former Venezuelan leader will soon face the full wrath of American justice.
Donald Trump has said Maduro will “go through a slog of a trial”. But it is likely to take years before a prosecution could be completed.
Maduro was mostly expressionless during the short hearing.
He took notes on a yellow legal pad and asked the judge that he be allowed to keep them.
His wife appeared to have several bruises on her face that a lawyer said she sustained when they were seized.