Call to lift immunity shield from former 1st Lady

PANAMA’S  First Anti-corruption Prosecutor has asked  the Electoral Tribunal Electoral (TE) to lift the  criminal immunity shiels of former  first lady, and vice-presidential candidate  Marta Linares de Martinelli, wife of self-exiled Ricardo Martinelli.

The request comes as part of an investigation into the purchase of Christmas food bags by  the Office of the First Lady through the scandal ridden National Assistance Program (PAN).

The former first lady, who enjoys immunity as an aspiring candidate for the district of San Francisco, in Panama City for  internal elections in the Democratic Change (CD) party, would be called as a “witness”.

Martinelli who is outside the country wrote from his Twitter account that “if the prosecution asks me, to be a witness, I’ll be there.”

According to a summary, by anti-corruption prosecutor, Tania Sterling, the office , is under investigation for irregularities  in a $ 5 million contract signed in 2013 by the then director of PAN Rafael Jaen.