Captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro will appear in a New York court on Thursday (today) for the second time since he was abducted by U.S. forces in a nighttime raid.

Presiding over the case is Alvin Hellerstein, a 92-year-old judge credited with overseeing several high-profile trials during his decades on the bench.

Mr Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores have been detained in a Brooklyn jail for almost three months after American commandos snatched the pair from their compound in Caracas in early January.

The abduction deposed the strongman who had led Venezuela since 2013 and has since forced the oil-rich country to largely bend to the will of U.S. President Donald Trump.

However, Mr Maduro has declared himself a “prisoner of war” and pleaded not guilty to the four counts of “narco-terrorism” conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices preferred against him by the U.S. government. 

Thursday’s hearing will hold at 11:00 am (1500 GMT), and likely to see Maduro push for the dismissal of his case as lawyers tussle over who will pay the former leader’s legal fees, according to AFP.

Though Venezuela’s government is seeking to cover the costs, due to Washington’s sanctions on the country, Mr Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack must obtain a US license that has not been issued.

Mr Pollack argued in a court submission that the licence requirement violated Mr Maduro’s constitutional right to legal representation and demanded the case be thrown out on procedural grounds.

Mr Maduro is reportedly alone in a cell with no access to the internet or newspapers in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre, a federal prison known for unsanitary conditions.

At his first U.S. court appearance in January, Mr Maduro struck a defiant tone as he identified himself as the president of Venezuela despite being captured.

Venezuela is now led by Delcy Rodriguez, who had been Mr Maduro’s vice president since 2018.

She is grappling with leading a country saddled with the world’s largest proven oil reserves but an economy in shambles.

This month, the U.S. State Department said it was restoring diplomatic ties with Venezuela in a sign of thawing relations.

Security is expected to be heightened around the New York courthouse for Thursday’s hearing.

Mr Maduro and his wife were forcibly taken by US commandos in the early hours of January 3 in airstrikes on the Venezuelan capital backed by warplanes and a heavy naval deployment.

At least 83 people died, and more than 112 people were injured in the assault, according to Venezuelan officials. No US service members were killed.