Three women who decided the former president’s apocalypse
The judges of the Second Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) María Eugenia López, Maribel Cornejo, and Ariadne García were key in the non-admission of an appeal for cassation presented by Ricardo Martinelli. This decision put a stop to the presidential aspirations of the former president and left the firm a 10-year sentence for money laundering for the purchase of Editora Panamá América SA in addition to a fine of $19.2 million.
Ariadne Maribel García has more than 32 years as a judicial servant and 28 years as a teacher in the faculty of law and political sciences at different universities in the country. She is a substitute magistrate of the First Civil Chamber of the CSJ until 2032 and a magistrate of the first Superior Court of the First Judicial District of Panama, from February 2022 to date.
Judge María Eugenia López is a judicial career official with more than thirty years of experience in the Judicial Branch. During these years, she has attended more than 70 seminars related to criminal matters. She graduated with honors from the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of the University of Panama, where she also obtained a Master’s Degree in Law with a Specialization in Criminal Sciences. She is the presiding judge of the Second Criminal Chamber, coordinator of the Accusatory Criminal System (SPA), and designated as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Justice.
Maribel Cornejo is a founding partner of her law firm. For 13 years she was a prosecutor for the Public Ministry. She has various diplomas in areas such as the design and implementation of money laundering risk prevention systems, and strategies for handling corruption crimes. She also has more than a dozen international seminars. Recognitions such as “Outstanding Mother of the Community”, awarded by the Lions Club of San Francisco de La Caleta; and a distinction as Meritorious Daughter in commemoration of the Cry of the Sonaeña Woman, are other decorations received by the judge.
