Martinelli plea deal not on cards
A MOVE by the acting president of the Democratic Change(CD) Party to try to negotiate a deal with a prosecuting judge and ex-president Ricardo Martinelli fell flat because pleading guilty is not on the agenda says his mouthpiece and cheerleader, lawyer Luis Eduardo Camacho.
A letter proposing Judge Harry Diaz visit Martinelli in a Miami Detention Center, where he has been held since his June arrest was sent to the Supreme Court by Alma Cortes, lawyer, who is herself on bail while awaiting trial on allegations of illegal enrichment when she was a Minister in Martinelli’s Cabinet.
Camacho said a visit to Miami by Diaz, for an interview with Martinelli, did not materialize because he explored with Diaz the possibility of reaching an agreement that would even imply the voluntary return of Martinelli and there were several conversations with him and the lawyers of the former president.
But, says Camacho, Martinelli has no plans to plead guilty to “something he has not done and is not even charged” in Panama and also because he was given no guarantees that “due process violations will be corrected” reports El Siglo. Camacho did not mention which of the multiple investigations involving Martinelli were things he had not done.
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