Martinelli extradition request includes arrest warrant

AS MOST victims and of illegal surveillance under the Ricardo Martinelli regime  agree that the request to the US for his extradition represents progress they still complain of the snail like progress  of  the  Supreme Court during the process.

The Martinelli defense team on the other hand calls the action illegal.

Rogelio Cruz, for  Martinelli said that the actions taken by the Foreign Ministry has violated the right to defend his client, since several resources were not resolved before filing a US extradition request .

Mitchell Doens, former secretary general of the PRD and a wiretap victim,   said “I think it is important that this man [Martinelli] face justice and pay for the crimes and abuses committed during his term.

“Hopefully the state can recover everything he stole from  the Panamanian people, not to mention the damage he did to the fragile institutions of the country “said

Panamenista Deputy Jose Luis Varela said : “Everyone must submit to justice when required by this, so I hope that Martinelli will come back and face it with the guarantees of a fair and transparent trial.”

Balbina Herrera, former PRD presidential candidate, said that “the importance of this request for the extradition of Ricardo Martinelli is the request for provisional arrest. That is, basic for me, because it cannot be that he is  laughing at us in Miami.”

The extradition request filed by the Embassy of Panama in Washington on Monday 26 at the US State Department, includes the provisional arrest warrant, ordered by the full Supreme Court on December 21 2015.

University of Panama professor Miguel Antonio Bernal, another victim of wiretapping  said: “I have no expectation that the process will prosper.”

“If they  really had wanted to prosecute Martinelli, first, they would not let him go, second, they would have canceled the passport, which is not yet done

“How will the US accept the extradition of a person who has not been charged, unless they alter their law, which I do not think it will? “he said.