Court admits claim against ex-president Martinelli

 The Seventeenth Civil Court has admitted a $50,000  claim for compensation for damages filed against former President Ricardo Martinelli by lawyer Rosendo Rivera The substitute judge Evelin Rosas concluded that the lawsuit complies with the formalities of the law, granted Martinelli a term of 10 days to answer and warned the former president that failure to do so will be taken as an indication against him.

The lawsuit was filed by attorney David Cuevas, representing Rivera, after the Public Ministry dismissed a complaint filed by Martinelli against Rivera for the alleged commission of crimes against honor.

Cuevas’ legal action maintains that Martinelli’s complaint against his client, filed on June 7, 2019, was reckless and in bad faith.

In addition, the document highlights that the Prosecutor’s Office of the Early Decision and Litigation Section of the Public Ministry closed the process (February 2020) considering that the facts alleged by Martinelli did not constitute a crime.

Cuevas alleged that the Public Ministry also argued that Martinelli acted with “recklessness, bad faith and abuse of the right to litigation since the objective of his action was to intimidate and cause damage to Rivera” , which, in Cuevas’s opinion, caused Rivera damages of a moral, psychological and material nature.

The legal battle arises reports La Prensa as a result of the process followed by Martinelli for illegal wiretapping, in which Rivera appears as a victim.

The former President must appear for a second trial in the case on June 22, after the Court of Appeals annulled a first trial in which he was found not guilty.