US Embassy condemns Martinelli attacks on media

The United States embassy in Panama has expressed its concern about attacks against the media in Panama.

 24 hours after lawyers for former President Ricardo Martinelli (2009 – 2014) tried to kidnap the properties of directors of the digital media outlet Foco  the embassy posted on its  Twitter and Instagram  accounts:

“ We view with concern the attacks against the media in Panama, part of an alarming trend. When the law is used to intimidate the media, citizens are deprived of their right to be informed. The freedom of the press is essential for a prosperous democracy ”,

On Wednesday, February 8, lawyers representing former President Ricardo Martinelli tried to seize the assets of  Annette Planells and  Mauricio Valenzuela  in the middle of a civil process that is in the hands of the  Sixth Civil Court.

However, the kidnapping was unsuccessful since, according to Planells, they tried to kidnap property that did not belong to her and, in the case of  Mauricio Valenzuela, they arrived at a residence where he has not resided for 5 years.

” They violated the law because they entered an apartment that is not my property and since we had a good lawyer they could not enter (…) They violated the law by entering private property without having proof of that property,” Planells said in statements to  TVN News.

While Valenzuela said that they will act ” legally against everyone for raiding a property of people who are unrelated to the process .”

“ An official violating all processes entered a residence where I lived 5 years ago. My underage children were there (…) What happened today was corrupt officials who moved the law in their favor, ”said Valenzuela, who also reported that they will continue to question former the former president.

Martinelli was detained in a US prison before being extradited to Panama to face trial in the case of illegal wiretapping during his administration is being targeted by high US authorities.

On January 26 when he went to receive his sons Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares who had been deported from the United States, after serving their sentence for laundering money from bribes paid by the construction company Odebrecht, that he received the news that the State Department designated him as a person who ” has engaged in acts of significant corruption .”

The highest-ranking official within President  Joe Biden’s administration, also asserted that: ” Specifically, Martinelli accepted bribes in exchange for improperly awarding government contracts during his tenure as President. These section 7031(c) designations make Martinelli and to members of his immediate family, ineligible to enter the United States .”