Martinelli wiretap lawyer accused of witness intimidation

A  key  witness in the wiretapping  case  of Ricardo Martinelli  has filed a criminal complaint against Alfredo Vallarino Alemán, one of the former defense lawyers of Ricardo Martinelli

In the complaint, filed by  Ismael Pittí, on Tuesday, January 21 Vallarino is accused of intimidation of a witness, after Martinelli’s lawyer filed a complaint against Pitti, for alleged false testimony.

In the action filed by Pittí, he considers that Vallarino’s complaint against him is intended to threaten and intimidate him, given the role he had in the trial of  Martinelli last year. In which the court declared the former president “not guilty” but the case is still under appeal.

According to Pitti, Vallarino tries to  “annihilate his will to give truthful testimony about what he knows and induce him to false testimony” in the event that his intervention is required again in the process against Martinelli.

For his part, Vallarino denounced Pittí because, according to him,  the different statements given by  Pitti when  “checked”, there were  “many falsehoods” against his client. He also claims that Pittí is investigated for alleged embezzlement since in 2014 he was a “corporal” with a salary of $700 per month at the National Security Council (CSN), but after his statement, he was sent to Washington, United States, to a diplomatic, a position with as alary – according to Vallarino – of $7,000 a month.

Ismael Pittí, who is still residing in the United States,  says La Prensa is the person who in 2014 informed the Assistant Prosecutor that “illegal interventions and interpretations” were carried out at the CSN, using a device acquired with funds from the National Assistance Program (PAN), from an Israeli company. Among the “objectives” of the CSN, the witness listed up to 150 politicians, trade unionists, journalists,  leaders of organized civil society and businessmen opposed to Martinelli. The interceptions – according to the protected witness – were carried out clandestinely.

These facts were confirmed by Pitti in the oral trial held last year, against Martinelli. Initially, Pitti had the status of a protected witness, but on the podium, he renounced his anonymity.

The witness also reported that he was recruited by Ronny Rodríguez and William Pitty, both agents of the CSN and currently of unknown whereabouts, to carry out the espionage between 2012 and 2014, commissioned by then-President Martinelli.

Pittí told the judges that Ronny Rodríguez – who was deputy director of the CSN – went daily to the Presidency, to deliver reports – inside a manila paper envelope – of the activities entrusted by Martinelli. The diligence was carried out every day, except when the president was out of the country.

For the same activities, Alejandro Garúz and Gustavo Pérez, former directors of the CSN in the Martinelli government, were sentenced to 50 months in prison, each in January 2019. The sentences were appealed.