Martinelli and buddy sought as witnesses in Italy corruption trial

THE DEFENSE attorneys of Valter Lavítola plan to call President Ricardo Martinelli and Rogelio Oruña as witnesses in his trial on corruption charges.

Lawyers Mauricio Paniz and Antonio Cirillo consider the testimony of the two men "indispensable" to Lavitola's defense reports La Prensa.

The Italian businessman is accused of coercing an Italian company to promise to build a pediatric hospital in Veraguas in exchange for other contracts. He was allegedly acting on behalf of the government of Panama.
Judicial authorities have yet to rule on the request. The hearings will be scheduled after the court examines documents related to the case, which is being heard in Naples, Italy
Martinelli has frequently described the investigations in Italy as a soap opera, but Lavitola is already serving time and facing the possibility of much longer sentences. His trial resumes in June, a week before Martinelli leaves office. Oruña’s was the beneficiary of direct contracts from the Martinelli administration within days of taking office and is mentioned as the eminence gris in many questionable contracts
Lavitola was a link man between Finemecanica and the outgoing government of Panama, with allegations of massive corruption involving government officials. He was feted in Panama and accompanied former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to meetings with Martinelli. Berlusconi was recently convicted and sentenced for fraud, and has been sentenced to 7 years for having sex with an underage girl and attempting to pervert the course o justice following one of his notorious bunga bunga parties.