NEW YORK, Jan 5 – Cilia Flores’s lawyer Mark E Donnelly who has claimed his client suffered “significant injuries” when she and her husband Maduro were seized in Venezuela, our US media partner CBS News reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we mentioned earlier, Flores was spotted with visible bruises while in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Donnelly has said he believes she has a fracture or severe bruising on her ribs – with the judge directing prosecutors to ensure she receives appropriate treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur client is in good spirits. We look forward to reviewing and challenging the evidence the government has. While we would love to present our side now, we will wait to do so in court at the appropriate time. The First Lady is aware that there is a long road ahead and is prepared,” Donnelly says in a statement to the BBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Handcuffed and wearing tan coloured prison clothing Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were surrounded by heavy security as they were moved from a Brooklyn prison to the courthouse in Manhattan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maduro appeared to be limping slightly as he was made to bend over and bow his head whilst boarding the chopper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maduro and his wife are facing charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy and weapons charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past hour they have both plead not guilty to the charges against them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US Attorney General, Pam Bondi, has said the former Venezuelan leader will soon face the full wrath of American justice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“Our client is in good spirits. We look forward to reviewing and challenging the evidence the government has. While we would love to present our side now, we will wait to do so in court at the appropriate time. The first lady is aware that there is a long road ahead and is prepared,” Donnelly says in a statement to the BBC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14346,"featured_media":789229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2428,25,21174,26,7515,4],"tags":[35868,35867,1981],"coauthors":[9115],"class_list":["post-789235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drug-trafficking","category-headlines","category-the-diplomatic-space","category-top-stories","category-top-story","category-world","tag-deposed-venezuela-first-lady","tag-deposed-venezuela-president-nicolas-maduro","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n