The Panamanian Justice decided to request the preventive detention of former President Martinelli (2009-2014), who is seeking asylum in the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City, after being sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for money laundering in the case known as 'New Business'.
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The judge of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama, Baloísa Márquez, ordered this Thursday, February 22, the arrest of former president Ricardo Martinelli, who is seeking asylum in the Nicaraguan Embassy, after losing his last appeal before Justice to avoid a sentence of more than 10 years in prison for money laundering.
Marquínez “ordered the preventive detention of a former president of the Republic within the process followed for the crime against the economic order […]in the so-called case New Business “, indicated the Judiciary in a statement.
According to the judge, the preventive detention of the former president is ordered after analyzing “the seriousness of the crime charged, the risk of flight evidenced by the conduct of the convicted person, and the need to guarantee the effectiveness of the judicial process,” according to the same statement.
The former Panamanian president was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison last July, after being found guilty in the case of a complex money laundering network that operated between 2010 and 2017.
The former right-wing president (2009-2014) had started his campaign for the presidential elections on May 5 on Saturday, February 3.a day after the Supreme Court published the ruling that rejected his last judicial appeal to annul the prison sentence.
After the sentence became final on February 2 after his appeal was rejected, Martinelli took refuge in the diplomatic headquarters of Nicaragua on February 7, alleging that the sentence was political persecution against him to prevent him from participating in the elections on May 5 as a presidential candidate.
This Thursday's judicial order also took into account Martinelli's responsibility to testify before the court on July 15 in the framework of the case for bribery scandal carried out by the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. One of the most important corruption cases in the history of Latin America.
“It is concluded that the preventive detention against the convicted former president is proportional and necessary to ensure the appearance of the sanctioned person before Justice and safeguard the interests of society,” said the Judicial Body, which also detailed that six “incidents of nullity” presented by the former president's defense were rejected.
Martinelli is a presidential candidate for the partisan coalition of 'Realizing Goals' and 'Alianza' for the next May elections, however, He would be politically disqualified from pursuing his aspirations for a second term.since the Panamanian Constitution prevents a person sentenced to more than 5 years in prison from participating in the presidential elections.
Martinelli, convicted for the 'New Business' and implicated in the 'Odebrecht Case'
The 71-year-old former president was convicted in July for the case known as 'New Business', where prosecutors discovered a scheme in which companies that won juicy bids during Martinelli's mandate sent around $43 million to a fictitious company. which was used by the politician to buy Editorial Panamá América SA
Read alsoPanama: the 10 and a half year prison sentence of former President Martinelli for money laundering is confirmed
Although the decision was appealed by his defense, the conviction was ratified. In addition to the time behind bars, Ricardo Martinelli must pay a fine of more than 19 million dollars, along with the mandatory transfer of the former president's shares in Editorial Panamá América (around 60% of the company).
Regarding Odebrecht, Martinelli has to face, together with his two children, a process related to money laundering and acceptance of bribes from the Brazilian construction company during his period as president. A case very similar to the dozens of Latin American officials who have been tried in the last decade for the scandal.
With AP, EFE and local media
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