Thumbs down on Martinelli lawyer stalling move
ANOTHER LEGAL maneuver to stall investigations involving members of the Ricardo Martinelli family has received the thumbs down.
The Second Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday , June 7, that Special AntiCorruption Prosecutor Tania Sterling is competent to issue precautionary measures for Luis Enrique and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares sons of former President Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal as part of the investigation into bribes paid by Odebrecht through banks in Switzerland.
“This is no longer the subject of debate. It has already been established that I am competent to declare the measure,” said Sterling said, adding that the decision provides “tranquility” to the process.
She made her comment after the hearing held by the Criminal Chamber to resolve an appeal of the Martinelli Linares brothers represented by lawyer and Ricardo Martinelli spokesman Luis Eduardo Camacho González, ,
against a decision of the High Court of Appeals, which denied a habeas corpus petition they submitted.
The petition was filed based on the argument that a judge, and not the prosecutor, needed to issue the order under the regulations of the criminal accusatory system. But the court agreed with Sterling, who argued that the case should be governed under previous regulations, which gave her that authority, since the investigation was related to events that took place before the accusatory system came into place.
