Martinelli lawyers move to stall extradition

A DAY after  a Florida judge ruled that there was probable cause for ex-president Ricardo Martinelli to face justice in Panama his lawyers made their first moves to stall the extradition process.

On Friday, September 1,  they sent a petition to Judge Edwin Torres of the Court of the Southern District of Florida, to suspend for 30 days the delivery of their client to the State Department while they prepare a habeas corpus.

In case the judge has already issued the extradition certificate, the lawyers ask Torres formally to suspend the order that should follow the ruling issued on Thursday, August 31.

“President Martinelli plans to appeal Torres’ final order through a petition for habeas corpus appeal to the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida located in Atlanta, Georgia. For this purpose, the defense requires time to prepare the document in a period of one month, to seek the opportunity to review the final order issued by the Court of the Southern District of Florida.”

Good faith
The request, according to the defense, “is presented in good faith and is not intended to cause unnecessary delays, since if the defense does not manifest the defense, the former president would suffer prejudice without being able to write the petition of a habeas corpus that assists in law before the final order of the Court.

“The denial of a temporary stay, as read in the petition of the defense, would de facto deprive the former president of this opportunity.”

The defense asks  the judge to delay the certification of extradition until September 30. and points out that it has tried to consult the motion with, the prosecution, but has not received a response, and given the urgency brings an instant motion to know “whether the government (or prosecutor) opposes or not the resource.”

Martinelli fled Panama in 2014, and his lawyers are making their moves to endeavor to save him from returning  to face trial for illegal surveillance of 150 political opponents, journalists and businessmen and multiple corruption and embezzlement cases involving him and members of his “zero circle”. He labels the criminal investigations “political persecution” by his successor, President Juan Carlos Varela.

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