Ricardo Martinelli’s Unconstitutionality Claim: Judge Transfers the Case to the Attorney General for an Opinion
Attorney Alejandro Pérez highlighted the progress made in the unconstitutionality lawsuit against the investigative resolution filed against former President Ricardo Martinelli in June 2020 (for the New Business case), following weeks of lethargy in the office of reporting judge Olmedo Arrocha. According to Pérez, this step implies that there will be a debate on whether the investigation is unconstitutional or not. “The reporting judge in the constitutional challenge against an investigative ruling forwarded the case to the Attorney General for a ruling. We’ll see what happens, but this is a step forward,” Pérez explained. The lawyer explained that Attorney General Luis Carlos Gómez has 10 days to comment on the unconstitutionality claim. He hopes he can correct his predecessor’s anomalies. “The attorney general who left, every time Ricardo Martinelli filed a lawsuit, he would file it, reject it, and the last time he responded in two hours, giving him 10 days,” he said.
Pérez stressed that it is obvious that the Specialty Principle was violated. Arrocha is the reporting judge of the unconstitutionality claim filed by lawyer Nadia Castillo, who sued the order of investigation (formulation of charges) of June 30, 2020, issued by prosecutor Emeldo Márquez in the New Business case, in disregard of the Principle of Specialty under which Martinelli was extradited on June 11, 2018 and which delimited the only four charges for which he could be accused, prosecuted and punished in the wiretapping case. For his part, attorney Omar Singh also highlighted the importance of the transfer of the case to the attorney general. “How many months have that appeal been shelved? At least it’s now in the office of the Attorney General, who is an excellent lawyer,” he explained. Former President Ricardo Martinelli, for his part, has called for speed with this process, reminding everyone that delayed justice is not justice.
