Request to declare Martinelli “in absentia” denied

The prosecution and plaintiffs called on the judges in the wiretapping trial of former president Ricardo Martinelli to declare him in absentia after they received a report prepared by the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (Imelcf),  detailing that his spinal operation on  Sunday, June 20 – two days before his scheduled court appearance – was elective.

The report was read on Wednesday, June 30, by Judge Ibeth Francois Vega, in a “communication hearing” convened by the court.

When the prosecutor Aurelio Vásquez and the plaintiffs learned that the operation was elective and not urgent, they asked the court to declare Martinelli “in absentia” and to suspend the statute of limitations for the criminal action

Luis Eduardo Camacho González, Martinelli’s lawyer, asked the judges to reject these claims and asked to postpone his client’s trial until after July 20 which was granted.

The court declared a recess to evaluate both applications.

Camacho González once again has the power to act in the case, since in recent weeks, the only attorney for Martinelli to act in the process was Alma Cortés.

 Carlos Carrillo, Alfredo Bernal, Roniel Ortiz, and Sidney Sittón also returned to the team with Camacho. Cortés remains on the team. Everyone was present except Sittón.

Shortly before the start of the hearing, Carlos Herrera Morán, the lawyer for the complainant victims, indicated that if the operation was elective, “this clearly demonstrates that he [Martinelli], deliberately, was hospitalized to avoid the rigors of justice.