Son of ex-president denied bail for second time

Judge Raymond J. Dearie made the decision to reject bail for Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares the son of former president Ricardo Martinelli after an appeal hearing held on Tuesday, November 23.

For James McGovern, defense attorney for Martinelli Linares, the long cooperation of Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares with the United States Department of Justice must be taken into account.

” Perhaps some of this should be taken into account (…) This is a sophisticated game of chess to single out the anonymous person in the prosecution, ” argued the defense attorney before Judge Dearie.

But, according to the judge, ” the risk of flight is greater at the moment ” and that is why he decided to reject the bail. In addition, the origin of the friendship of the people who will guarantee the bail of Martinelli Linares was questioned.

During the hearing, the US prosecutor’s office once again insisted on the economic capacity and political power that the Martinelli Linares family wield.

” They have excessive economic resources, excessive political connections and Panama does not extradite its nationals (…) The case is not about having money, but about using it to influence, ” said the prosecution.

Regarding the point of returning the passport and that was offered by the lawyer McGovern, the prosecution also opposed this argument and recalled that after the action of Luis Enrique Martinelli  Linares along with his brother Ricardo Alberto to obtain flight credentials for the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), it would not be difficult for them to get another passport.

Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares will face an audience on December 14. at 4:30 pm.

The first rejection 
In the first hearing that was held on November 16, Judge Marcia Henry took into account that the brothers Luis Alberto and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares left the United States at the time they were negotiating agreements with the United States justice for the alleged case of laundering money related to Odebrecht’s corruption scheme.

According to the US prosecutor’s office, the Martinelli Linares brothers left the United States through a boat that took them to the Bahamas, and from there they took a private jet to Panama, however, it could not land on Panamanian soil because it did not have with the permits required at that time by the air transport control measures established by the pandemic.

The plane was finally able to reach El Salvador and from that country, both brothers took an Uber to the Guatemalan border, where they entered with a diplomatic passport. In that country, the US authorities located them and ordered their capture for extradition purposes.