Second ex-president under country arrest
After a day-long interrogation on Thursday, July 2 special Odebrecht anti-corruption prosecutor Ruth Morcillo slapped a country arrest order on former president Juan Carlos Varela, which means he cannot leave the country without judicial authorization and must report on the 30th of each month.
Unlike former president Ricardo Martinelli, who earlier in the day received the same restriction, Varela did not take advantage of article 25 of the Constitution, which states that no one is obliged to testify against himself.
He answered questions from the prosecutor, who inquired about the money the Panameñista Party received from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.
Those funds would have been used in the electoral campaigns in 2009 when Varela allied with Ricardo Martinelli to reach the presidential palace : Martinelli as president and he as vice-president, and in 2014, when Varela won the Presidency reports La Prensa.
Jaime Lasso the ex-consul of Panama in South Korea, and close to the former president in February 13 and 17 told the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, that he was the link to receive the funds.
According to the prosecution’s investigations, Odebrecht’s money went to the Panameñista Party through the Don James Foundation and through two companies: V-Tech and Poseidon Enterprises, all linked to Lasso.
Supposedly, with that money, the political group paid for electoral campaigning. Varela insists that the money is not the product of bribes, but “donations
No one above law
The ex-preaident left the prosecutor’s office at 6:40 pm “I have come to comply with the summons from the Ministry earlier today. As I have said in all my speeches, no one is above the law. All citizens have to be responsible, comply with the laws of the country and, above all, when one is part of a process and is safe and feels sure of himself and his innocence, he must assume the correct procedural attitude: to appear, to answer, to clarify. Always be available to the authorities and that is what we are doing. This is what we are going to continue doing, ”he told waiting journalists.
He added that he will go to the prosecution as many times as necessary to clarify his innocence and answer any questions the Public Ministry has about the case. “And so comply with the country and strengthen the rule of law.”
