Nicki Minaj will absolutely NOT testify in her brother's child rape trial ... despite what her bro's team suggested during opening arguments last week.
Sources close to Nicki tell TMZ ... she won't be involved in any way in Jelani Maraj's Long Island court case, where he stands accused of raping an 11-year-old girl -- his stepdaughter at the time.
We're told Minaj never planned to take the stand, and her bro's legal team telling news outlets she was on their witness list was simply false. There were reports Nicki would testify the alleged victim's mom tried to extort her for millions.
Jelani's trial started last week, but the bottom line here is Nicki won't be anywhere near the proceedings.
We reached out to Jelani's attorney who told us, "I have no idea, we'll see."