The wife of Venezuela’s deposed leader Nicolas Maduro, both of whom face drug trafficking charges in the United States, has requested to be released from New York detention and placed under house arrest, citing heart problems.
Before her capture by US forces in January, Cilia Flores “was in good health and was not taking any long-term medication, with the exception of a monthly injection,” her attorney Mark Donnelly stated in a document.
While she and her husband are incarcerated in a federal jail in Brooklyn awaiting trial, the 69-year-old suffers from serious heart problems that require a coronary angiogram or even surgery, according to her defence team.
Arguing that her living conditions in detention do not allow her to receive the proper medical care, the lawyer is requesting she be placed under house arrest in the United States under restrictive conditions.
This would include 24-hour armed surveillance, an electronic ankle bracelet monitor and confiscation of her passport.
The authoritarian Mr Maduro, 63, and Ms Flores were seized by the United States during a raid in Caracas and have been detained since 3 January.
They stand accused of helping smuggle tons of cocaine into the United States.
Both deny the charges, while Mr Maduro has claimed in court to be a “prisoner of war” of the United States.