Exclusively for Afaq News.. Sources reveal new "charges" expected to be directed at Nicolas Maduro and his wife

- Sources for Afaq News revealed that prosecutors in New York are expected to file new charges against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in connection with allegations of torturing American citizens who were detained by the Venezuelan government in recent years. These individuals mentioned that the announcement of these charges could come as soon as Thursday.

The new charges relate to what the U.S. government described as the "arbitrary detention of more than a dozen American citizens in Venezuelan prisons during Maduro's rule," which led a repressive regime in the country, according to sources familiar with the investigation. Investigators have also discussed filing charges against other individuals for their alleged roles in torturing Americans, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Maduro and his wife were arrested during a U.S. military operation in January, where they were detained and taken from the presidential palace in Caracas. They have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit "drug trafficking" crimes and other charges, and they are currently being held in New York without the possibility of bail.

Flores is expected to appear at a hearing on Thursday, where her attorney will request to have her placed under house arrest pending trial. The allegations of torture involve the Maduro government detaining more than a dozen Americans, which the U.S. authorities and human rights groups have accused of using these detainees as "political bargaining chips."

Several Americans have publicly spoken about the torture they experienced during their detention. Both Matthew Heath and Usman Khan - who were released in a prisoner swap in October 2022 - alleged in a lawsuit that they were subjected to torture methods including waterboarding, electric shocks, threats of sexual assault, and forced drugging, as well as periods of solitary confinement.

Heath, a former U.S. Marine, also attempted suicide during his detention. Additionally, the group "Citgo 6," consisting of six American oil executives lured to Venezuela in 2017 and held for nearly five years, reported that they faced extremely harsh conditions during their detention in Venezuela.

Tommy Fadell, Alirio José Zambrano, and José Luis Zambrano all stated that they were tortured during their detention at the notorious Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence and Security, which was "responsible for arbitrary detentions, mistreatment, and torture of political opponents and their families," according to a report by the United Nations. The report concluded that the Directorate "systematically resorted" to torture practices - including electric shocks, suffocation with plastic bags, waterboarding, beatings, sexual violence, deprivation of food and water, forcing detainees into painful physical positions (stress positions), and exposure to extreme temperatures - with the aim of "extracting information and confessions, intimidating detainees, and punishing them."