Martinelli criminal case stymied by defense moves

The Special Prosecutor’s Office against Organized Crime, headed by prosecutor Emeldo Márquez, has his hands tied  in the “New Business” case centered around    ex-president Ricardo Martinelli

This is due to the fact that Márquez was challenged by the defense of the former president, invoking, among other things, the principle of specialty established in the 1904 extradition treaty, concluded between Panama and the United States reports La Prensa.

However, this appeal has not yet been resolved by the Third Criminal Settlement Court, headed by Baloisa Marquínez.  

Ronier Ortiz, Martinelli’s lawyer, said that the legal action was filed “several weeks ago,” and he has no news about its status in court.

According to the Public Ministry, the prosecution has until the end of October to continue gathering evidence in the case in which some 40 people are charged with alleged money laundering in transactions with supposed public money for the acquisition of Grupo Editoral Panamá América SA.

 According to the prosecution, the New Business company served as a ‘basket’ to accumulate at least $43.9 million, which was used to acquire the publisher in 2010, when Martinelli was president.

Prosecutor Márquez has already made his position known regarding the principle of specialty. It stated, among other things, that the Public Ministry has a constitutional and legal obligation to prosecute crimes, for which it must carry out summary proceedings that are relevant and useful to prove the existence of the punishable act.

Several of the money transfers were made from foreign jurisdictions. He also highlighted that the file “handles a large number of linked persons.”

Martinelli was charged with the alleged commission of the crime of money laundering and has the precautionary measure preventing him from leaving the country, and the duty to notify himself every 15 days. But he has not testified in the case. On July 2, the day on which he had to answer to the prosecutor, he used article 25 of the Constitution and brought out the principle of specialty. Then he presented disabilities and recused the prosecutor.