Supreme Court upholds New Business ruling

The Supreme Court has confirmed a decision of the First Court of Justice that did not grant an Amparo of constitutional guarantees presented by former President Ricardo Martinelli in the New Business case, a process that follows the track of the purchase of Editora Panamá América SA presumably with public funds.

The Court endorsed a decision of the First Court of Justice, which in turn upheld the decision of the third judge, liquidator of criminal cases, Baloisa Marquínez, not to accept a controversial incident against the inquiry order issued against Martinelli in the case.

Martinelli’s defense argued that Marquínez’s decision violated the principle of specialty that he would enjoy and that it would prevent him from being prosecuted for a cause other than the puncture case, from which he was acquitted.

But the ruling, which bears the signature of María Eugenia López, presiding magistrate of the Court, alleges that the alleged principle was invoked in the appeal filed against the decision of the First Superior Court, which did not admit the Amparo, but not so in the incident of controversy resolved by Marquínez.

In addition, it indicates that the Amparo contains incomplete information on the appeals filed before the court and the First Court.

On January 28, Marquínez was forced to suspend the preliminary hearing in this case, because Martinelli claimed to have criminal electoral jurisdiction due to the internal elections of his Realizing Goals party. Then Marquínez asked the Electoral Court (TE) to lift the jurisdiction of the former president, but the TE, through a resolution dated March 22, maintained that protection on the grounds that the accused would be covered by the principle of specialty. This decision of the TE is the subject of two claims of unconstitutionality before the Court, resources that were accumulated in one and whose rapporteur is López.

In turn, Martinelli’s defense denounced López before the National Assembly.