Jailed Martinelli sons moved from isolation block

The sons of ex-president Ricardo Martinelli  Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares were transferred from the isolation block of the Guatemalan prison where they have been held since the July 1 discovery of an alleged escape plan.

 The director said of the Penitentiary System, Luis Escobar told a Monday press

conference that the Panamanian brothers “are no longer in the isolation area,” and the conditions in the other space where they are now located “are adequate to respect the integrity and dignity of the person”.

Escobar said that as a result of the information they obtained of the alleged escape plan from the United States Embassy and the Guatemalan Ministry of the Interior, the Penitentiary System reinforced “the security protocols with more highly qualified or elite personnel.  Regarding the escape plan of Ricardo and Luis Martinelli, he emphasized that they could not “corroborate that there was an escape attempt, because there was not,” however, “the information of the plan, we proceeded to investigate, “and, consequently, they were directly isolated “.

The brothers were removed from the “VIP area”, as it is popularly known to the area where high-profile inmates are sent, located within the Mariscal Zavala Military Prison. , to an adjoining dungeon in order to isolate them and thwart their plan.

  The prison director added that the Mariscal Zavala prison suffers from a “vulnerability” due to the “renovation of some walls” that “could lead to a danger where they could try to escape.”He emphasized that the Penitentiary System works “in conjunction with the American Embassy and the Ministry of Defense, and directly with the Ministry of the Interior with all its intelligence agencies and this it has led us to be successful in any escape attempt that might occur. “

The information on the alleged intention to escape “was clear. There could be an attempt, so we proceeded to reinforce those protocols.”

Now, the Martinelli brothers, who are both awaiting an extradition process to the United States, are located in “another space that needs to have greater attention on the issue of their protection.” Luis Enrique, 38, and his brother, Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares, 40, were arrested in Guatemala on July 6, 2020, at the request of the United States due to the alleged crime of money laundering during the mandate of their father in a corruption case linked to the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.

According to the indictment of the District Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, the Martinelli Linares are responsible for the crime of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two crimes of concealment of information, between 2009 and 2015.