Martinelli attempted to “steal” election – Judge
THERE WAS A coordinated attempt to “steal” the general election in May 2014, said , Electoral Tribunal (TE) Chief Justice Erasmo Pinilla on Tuesday December 29.
“His henchmen in Panama attacked me because they knew that I was preventing him from stealing the election,” the judge said, referring to former President Ricardo Martinelli. It is the first rime he has spoken out against the alleged dirty tricks that received widespread coveerage at the time.
When asked if there was a direct plan to perpetrate fraud, Pinilla said: “Everyone knows about all the maneuvers: from theft of a data base to the cyber-attack on the computer center of the Tribunal Electoral on Friday before the elections. They were all attempts to steal the election,.”
Pinilla has been accused by the CD, Martinelli’s party, of nepotism and with making decisions that benefited candidates who supported President Juan Carlos Varela, reports La Prensa.
Alma Cortés, recently appointed by Martinelli as acting president of the CD, did not respond to requests for comment.
