Martinellis desperate act fails to halt Supreme Court hearing

In spite of the latest maneuvers by Panama’s Ricardo Martinelli and his lawyers to dodge the judicial bullet, The Supreme Court of (CSJ) has stuck by the decision to hold the accusatory hearing against the former president on Monday, June 25.

He is facing  charges  for the alleged commission of the crimes of inviolability of secrecy and the right to privacy, and  embezzlement, with the prosecutor calling for a 21-year jail term

The hearing has not been suspended, despite the fact that Martinelli announced his resignation as deputy of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) last Thursday with his lawyers arguing that, for this reason, the hearing should not be held.

The Martinelli case is in the Supreme Court, as the Constitution provides that deputies of the National Assembly and the Parlacen are investigated by CSJ magistrates.

Panamanian deputy Juan Pablo García, one of the vice-presidents of Parlacen, García told La Prensa that once the resignation letter has been received by the board of directors, it must be taken to a plenary session and just one is planned for Thursday, June 28 and Friday, June 29. In the meantime, Martinelli maintains his status as a Parlacen deputy.

Carlos Carrillo, one of Martinelli’s legal team of Martinelli, said that the resignation letter was presented to before the office of the president of the Court, Hernán de León, and to the magistrate judge of guarantees, Jerónimo Mejía.

He was informed hours later that the Court did not admit the document.

Members of organized civil society are in total agreement  that Martinelli’s action  is to delay the Court process

Severo Sousa, president of the National Council of Private Enterprise, told La Prensa  that he prefers to try his luck in a lower judicial sphere and under the inquisitive system, “where he possibly has greater legal opportunities to obtain more favorable results or to further delay the case, with the aspiration to be able to resolve  it politically in another government or through prescriptions.”

Lina Vega, president of the Panamanian chapter of Transparency International, said that  “As the Parlacen trick did not work for him, now Martinelli decides to use the trick upside down. “

“He did it badly and late. Already the process in which he is accused of violating the privacy of Panamanians began so that the competence of the CSJ must be maintained […] magistrates must be categorical and close that door that Martinelli intends to open and that is not more than another example of the live play that would produce impunity, ” warned Vega.

Carlos Lee, of the Citizens Alliance for Justice, said that Martinelli seeks not only to change the judge who can investigate and judge him but also gain time without a possible conviction, to be able to exercise his electoral pretensions.

The lawyer Mariela Ledezma agrees with Lee and Vega. Considers that Martinelli’s decision it is a maneuver evidently designed to prevent the accusation being made and the evidence presented which, in her opinion, is conclusive. Otherwise, she added, two judges from the United States would not have agreed that there were sufficient elements to send him to Panama to render accounts.

Ledezma added that Martinelli and his defense, “are doing this as a desperate act.”