The plaintiffs, John Matthew Heath and Osman Khan, also accused Maduro of allegedly running an organization outside the law.
Former Marine John Matthew Heath and American citizen Osman Khan, who were arbitrarily detained in Venezuela by the administration of Nicolás Maduro, sued President Nicolás Maduro in Miami for having suffered torture during their detention with various elements such as drowning, electric shocks, use of psychotropic substances, isolation, among others.
In the lawsuit, to which he had access Associated PressHeath and Khan’s lawyers accuse Maduro of leading a vast “criminal enterprise” that has co-opted the State and uses American citizens as bargaining chips in negotiations with the United States.
“The kidnapping, torture and rescue of American citizens were part of a continuous and systematic plan to force the United States government to make political concessions, end an oil embargo and exchange prisoners,” argues the defense of the two citizens. .
But not only Maduro is on the list of those accused, but there are 17 other people accused such as the Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino López; the attorney general, Tarek William Saab, and the minister of the Interior and Justice, Diosdado Cabello; together with Petróleos de Venezuela and Minerven.
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Heath and Khan’s legal action against the Maduro administration is similar to what courts in the US have received in the past and which ruled in favor of the injured parties. These people also accused the president of controlling the “Cartel of the Suns,” an alleged drug trafficking network involving senior Venezuelan officials and guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia who supposedly flood the United States with cocaine.
The US Government determined that both were unjustly detained on false charges. They were released after having been detained for 752 and 259 days respectively, in October 2022, along with five former Citgo executives in an exchange that involved the nephews of the first lady, Cilia Flores, who were detained for drug trafficking.
All of them sought damages under a little-used federal law, the Anti-Terrorism Act, which allows American victims of foreign terrorist groups to confiscate the assets of their perpetrators, he recalls. AP.
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content is being published taking into consideration the threats and limits that have consequently been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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