No-show Martinelli declared in default

AS WIDELY EXPECTED,  Former President Ricardo Martinelli  was a no show  at a hearing slated for Friday, December 11  on charges he ordered illegal surveillance by the National Security Council when in office 2009- 2014.

Instead he was represented  by a battery of lawyers ready with  yet another delaying tactic  only to hear the judge say he was not going to “play their game”

Martinelli, was declared “in default” by not personally appearing. The announcement came from    Supreme Court Judge  Jeronimo Mejia, who acts as judge of procedural guarantees, stating that Martinelli had been duly notified of the hearing, since the Criminal Procedure Code allows these inquiries to be made via email.

“Upon being notified and the failure to appear, from is to be declared in default,” Mejia said before terminating the hearing at 10:38 am, nearly an hour after starting.

Martinelli – who left the country January  28 – is accused of the crimes of violating the right to privacy and violating the duties of public administration. nearly a dozen other criminal cases against him are pending.

The former president was represented by f at least eight lawyers. Also at the hearing were former First Lady Marta Linares and other family members.

“I’m not very clear of what is going to happen today,” said Linares before entering the hearing. She confirmed that her husband is in the United States and will not appear before the court.

From early in the morning, some of the remaining supporters of the former president gathered outside the Supreme Court building where the hearing was to take place. Extra security had been ordered.

Victims and prosecutors were also present. PRD leaders Mitchell Doens, Balbina Herrera and Mauro Zúñiga entered together, telling reporters that the former president is hiding “in the skirts of women.”

“Martinelli committed criminal offenses” Doens said, adding that the former president continues to flout the judicial system, just as he did while in office.

“Martinelli  now has no crown to evade justice,” he added.

Zúñiga lamented that Martinelli has not been imprisoned.

Panama had asked Interpol to issue a “blue alert” to determine the whereabouts of the former president. It remains to be seen what the next step will be now that the former president has refused to attend the hearing.

Mejia announced that it would not issue arrest warrant Martinelli, because “the matter falls to the plenary of the Supreme Court”.

Mejia also alleged that the record reflects Martinelli’s lawyers reported that the home of his client is in Miami, United States.

“The defense brought a foreign address, establishing a kind of privilege on behalf of his client,” he said.

“That would produce a true expansion of the process … They are wrong if they think that this judge guarantees will play that game,” he said.

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