“I am a prisoner of war”

Before Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro walked through the doors of a New York City courtroom for the first time, the jingling of leg shackles could be heard.

He then told the packed row of reporters and members of the public that he had just been “kidnapped.”

Minutes after entering, Judge Alvin Hellerstein asked Maduro to confirm his identity so proceedings could begin.

“Sir, I am Nicolás Maduro. I am the president of the Republic of Venezuela and I have been kidnapped here since January 3,” he told the court in calm Spanish, before an interpreter interpreted for the court. “I was arrested at my home in Caracas, Venezuela.”

The 92-year-old judge quickly interjected, telling Maduro that there would be “a time and a place to intervene in all this.”

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges during a dramatic 40-minute arraignment Monday afternoon.

“I am innocent. I am a decent person,” Maduro said. Flores added that she was “completely innocent.”

The 63-year-old man and his wife were arrested by U.S. forces at their residence in Venezuela on Saturday and later transferred to a New York prison as part of a surprise overnight operation that also hit military bases.

During the hearing, the two men, wearing blue and orange prison shirts and khaki pants, listened to a Spanish interpreter on headphones, with a lawyer sitting between them. Maduro took meticulous notes on a yellow legal pad that he could take with him after asking the judge to confirm the hearing.

As Maduro entered the room — the same federal court where Sean “Diddy” Combs was tried and convicted months earlier — he turned to several members of the audience, nodding and greeting them.

He maintained this calm, poker-faced demeanor throughout the proceedings, even at the end, when a man watching in a public area suddenly shouted that Maduro would “pay” for his crimes.

“I am president and a prisoner of war,” he shouted in Spanish to the man in the audience. The man was then escorted out of the room with tears streaming down his face.

Others in the courtroom were also emotional about the proceedings. Maibot Petit, a Venezuelan journalist covering Maduro’s government, said U.S. missile strikes during Maduro’s arrest damaged her home in the Fuerte Tiuna neighborhood of Caracas.

She said it was surreal to see her former leader being escorted into the courtroom by U.S. Marshals wearing a prison uniform.

Maduro’s wife, Flores, was much quieter and had bandages around her eyes and forehead, injuries her lawyers said she sustained during her weekend arrest.

She had her blond hair tied back in a bun and spoke softly while her lawyers pressed for her to receive appropriate medical treatment, including X-rays of possible bruised ribs and broken bones.

Maduro and his wife did not seek bail during the proceedings but could do so at a later date, meaning they would remain in federal custody.

The United States has charged Maduro with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine import conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

Maduro was charged along with his wife, son and several others. The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for March 17.