Son of ex-president Martinelli loses  final extradition appeal

The Constitutional Court of Guatemala rejected the processing of an unconstitutionality appeal filed by Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, against the law that regulates extradition procedures.

The rejection clears the way for transferring the younger son of former president Ricardo Martinelli to face trial on money laundering charges in the United States.

The decision was adopted on July 19, and it states that Martinelli Linares did not carry out a technical legal analysis that supports the defect of unconstitutionality that he alleges in his claim.

“In the specific case, the constitutionality of its material content is not objected, with clear and adequate reasoning, since the argumentation is carried out without making a parification between the constitutional norms denounced as violated and the objective norm,” says the Court’s ruling.

The agency also ordered the Fifth Court of Criminal Sentencing, Drug Trafficking, and Crimes against the Environment to suspend the unconstitutionality process and avoid unnecessary procedures “in the interests of the principle of procedural economy.”

Martinelli Linares has successively lost the appeals he has presented to prevent his delivery to the United States, where he is sued (with his brother Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares) for various crimes related to money laundering. The two have been detained in Guatemala since July 6, 2020.

Last week it was learned that the First Chamber of the Court of Appeals rejected the appeals filed by the lawyers of Martinelli Linares and confirmed the decision of the Fifth Court judges, who last May had ordered his surrender to face various charges linked to money laundering, in a New York court.

“In the case at hand, both the objective and subjective requirements are met so that the extradition of the requested Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares is declared appropriate, by virtue of the fact that the crime for which the government of the United States requests his extradition is of the common order, it is punishable according to the laws of both States, it has a penalty of more than one year and there is a treaty in force between Guatemala and the United States, ”says the Order of June 21, 2021, of the First Chamber of the Court of Appeals.

Martinelli Linares will eventually have to be placed under the orders of the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry, an entity that will proceed to issue a “governmental agreement” that will finally authorize his departure from the country.

“Right now, the extradition resolution is being sent to the Secretary of the Supreme Court. They send it to the Foreign Ministry, then he goes to the embassy, ​​then to the United States and the extradition is already scheduled there, “said Rony Ríos, a journalist for El Periodico de Guatemala.

The extradition of Ricardo Alberto is going at a slower pace and is decided by another court, the Third Criminal Sentencing, Drug Trafficking, and Crimes against the Environment.

The two sons of former President Ricardo are requested in extradition to answer for an accusation filed in the Eastern District Court of New York, on three charges: one for allegedly conspiring to launder money, and two more, for hiding information about him. money laundering.

Luis Enrique faces two additional charges for the alleged use of money obtained through money laundering.

The two brothers remain in the Mariscal Zavala military prison, where an operation was carried out two months ago after an escape plan was alerted. Currently, visits to the prison are prohibited, since last August 14, due to the increase in Covid-19 cases.