Lawyers claim fake news for Martinelli extradition

Lawyers for Panama’s jailed fugitive ex-president Ricardo Martinelli, in the face of a refusal of a Miami judge to grant bail,  have returned to their political persecution mantra.

They say they will present “new and additional” evidence on Monday that the Panamanian authorities forwarded “False information” to the United States to include in the extradition process.

Luis Eduardo Camacho, spin doctor for Martinelli while he was in office, and since said in a telephone interview with Efe News Agency that the presentation will be made at a press conference in the Panamanian capital.

US federal judge Edwin Torres announced last Friday that Martinelli will remain in prison until the extradition process ends, as is common in these cases.

Camacho told Efe that he spoke with the former president the same Friday.

“Ricardo Martinelli is a person with a survival instinct rarely seen, and  continues to see his extradition trial with “optimism.”

“He continues to trust in the independence of the institutions in the United States and is sure to take this process of extradition to the end,” said Camacho.

This last sentence seems to allude to the assertion by the US federal judge in the document in which he explained the reasons for not granting him bail,

he pointed out that he will try to streamline the process as much as possible, but recalled that Martinelli is still “free” to skip the US process. And return to Panama, where he could if he wanted apply for bail again, reports

Camacho was convinced that the situation that Martinelli is going through has to do with his “very strong” positions against the regimes of Cuba and Venezuela when he was president.

He asserted that Varela had a “close relationship” with Cuba and Venezuela, “at least” until in June, coinciding with Martinelli’s detention in Miami.

Martinelli’s defense in the extradition trial has already presented a document with alleged evidence of false information contained in the Panamanian Supreme Court’s request, but Camacho said that what will be presented tomorrow are new things that were not in that document.

The former president, who asked for political asylum in the United States. In 2015 alleging persecution on the part of Varela, but has not yet had an answer, is wanted for crimes related to a network of illegal eavesdropping during his government and for embezzlement.