Panama ex-President Ricardo Martinelli gets political asylum from Nicaragua
PANAMA City — Panama’s former President Ricardo Martinelli has been given political asylum from Nicaragua days just after Panama’s Supreme Court docket denied his attraction about a dollars laundering conviction that carried a 10-calendar year sentence.
Martinelli’s legal professional Shirley Castañeda said outside the house the Nicaraguan embassy Wednesday that “his political asylum experienced presently been granted.” Asked why Martinelli had requested asylum, she mentioned “because his lifetime was in risk.”
Nicaragua’s International Affairs Ministry verified that it granted Martinelli asylum in a statement Wednesday. It explained Martinelli requested asylum on the foundation of political persecution and imminent possibility to his everyday living. It named on Panama’s governing administration to enable his prompt exit to Nicaragua, to which Panama’s Foreign Affairs Ministry acknowledged that it experienced obtained the advisory from Nicaragua.
Martinelli, a 71-12 months-aged businessman and grocery store magnate who governed Panama from 2009 to 2014, wrote in a letter unveiled and confirmed as genuine by his workforce that politically motivated prosecutions experienced compelled him to seek out Nicaraguan asylum.
Asylum was vital to “protect myself from the ongoing deficiency of authorized security, the denial of justice and my private basic safety,” Martinelli wrote.
He also urged his followers to help his managing mate, José Raúl Mulino, in the May 5 presidential election and explained that he would be with Mulino from working day a single.
In a push conference Wednesday afternoon, Mulino, alongside Martinelli’s spouse, reported that Martinelli would keep on being on the ballot and that just after they get business, Martinelli would return to Panama.
On Friday, the Supreme Court docket denied Martinelli’s ultimate enchantment of his revenue laundering conviction. With his conviction and sentence verified, Martinelli would have been ineligible to run for president.
On Saturday, Martinelli had held a rally in Panama’s cash in which he defiantly explained he would even now run in the country’s May well 5 election, and denied being responsible of any crimes. Even so, on Monday, when Martinelli spoke in Congress, he alleged that existing President Laurentino Cortizo desired to imprison and even kill him, and that he was facing imminent arrest.
Luis Eduardo Camacho, Martinelli’s spokesman, mentioned that Martinelli would continue being within the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama until finally he received protected passage to Nicaragua.
Martinelli was elected by his celebration previous June as its presidential candidate. He was just one of 8 hopefuls vying for the presidency.
Post 180 of the country’s structure suggests that no a person sentenced to five or more years for a crime can be elected president or vice president.
Martinelli was convicted final July of money laundering in a situation dating again to 2017 and related to his 2010 obtain of a publishing organization that owns countrywide newspapers.
Prosecutors explained firms that had gained lucrative governing administration contracts during Martinelli’s presidency funneled revenue to a front enterprise that was then utilised to order the publisher. The transactions included a elaborate series of overseas income transfers that came up to $43 million. The front corporation accumulating the dollars was termed “New Organization.”
Martinelli was sentenced to much more than 10 a long time in prison and fined $19 million. He experienced denied wrongdoing and taken care of that he was the target of political persecution. An appeals court docket ratified the sentence in Oct.
Martinelli, a populist who oversaw a time period of huge infrastructure assignments in the state, such as design of the capital’s 1st metro line, is the 1st former president convicted of a crime in Panama.
Past yr, the United States govt barred Martinelli and his instant family members from entering the nation, primarily based on what it called his involvement in “significant” corruption.
Martinelli would not be the very first ex-president fleeing the regulation to land in Nicaragua. President Daniel Ortega’s administration granted citizenship to former President Mauricio Funes in 2019. He had liked political asylum in the region since 2016 and faces allegations of illicit enrichment and embezzlement in El Salvador.
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PANAMA City — Panama’s former President Ricardo Martinelli has been given political asylum from Nicaragua days just after Panama’s Supreme Court docket denied his attraction about a dollars laundering conviction that carried a 10-calendar year sentence.
Martinelli’s legal professional Shirley Castañeda said outside the house the Nicaraguan embassy Wednesday that “his political asylum experienced presently been granted.” Asked why Martinelli had requested asylum, she mentioned “because his lifetime was in risk.”
Nicaragua’s International Affairs Ministry verified that it granted Martinelli asylum in a statement Wednesday. It explained Martinelli requested asylum on the foundation of political persecution and imminent possibility to his everyday living. It named on Panama’s governing administration to enable his prompt exit to Nicaragua, to which Panama’s Foreign Affairs Ministry acknowledged that it experienced obtained the advisory from Nicaragua.
Martinelli, a 71-12 months-aged businessman and grocery store magnate who governed Panama from 2009 to 2014, wrote in a letter unveiled and confirmed as genuine by his workforce that politically motivated prosecutions experienced compelled him to seek out Nicaraguan asylum.
Asylum was vital to “protect myself from the ongoing deficiency of authorized security, the denial of justice and my private basic safety,” Martinelli wrote.
He also urged his followers to help his managing mate, José Raúl Mulino, in the May 5 presidential election and explained that he would be with Mulino from working day a single.
In a push conference Wednesday afternoon, Mulino, alongside Martinelli’s spouse, reported that Martinelli would keep on being on the ballot and that just after they get business, Martinelli would return to Panama.
On Friday, the Supreme Court docket denied Martinelli’s ultimate enchantment of his revenue laundering conviction. With his conviction and sentence verified, Martinelli would have been ineligible to run for president.
On Saturday, Martinelli had held a rally in Panama’s cash in which he defiantly explained he would even now run in the country’s May well 5 election, and denied being responsible of any crimes. Even so, on Monday, when Martinelli spoke in Congress, he alleged that existing President Laurentino Cortizo desired to imprison and even kill him, and that he was facing imminent arrest.
Luis Eduardo Camacho, Martinelli’s spokesman, mentioned that Martinelli would continue being within the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama until finally he received protected passage to Nicaragua.
Martinelli was elected by his celebration previous June as its presidential candidate. He was just one of 8 hopefuls vying for the presidency.
Post 180 of the country’s structure suggests that no a person sentenced to five or more years for a crime can be elected president or vice president.
Martinelli was convicted final July of money laundering in a situation dating again to 2017 and related to his 2010 obtain of a publishing organization that owns countrywide newspapers.
Prosecutors explained firms that had gained lucrative governing administration contracts during Martinelli’s presidency funneled revenue to a front enterprise that was then utilised to order the publisher. The transactions included a elaborate series of overseas income transfers that came up to $43 million. The front corporation accumulating the dollars was termed “New Organization.”
Martinelli was sentenced to much more than 10 a long time in prison and fined $19 million. He experienced denied wrongdoing and taken care of that he was the target of political persecution. An appeals court docket ratified the sentence in Oct.
Martinelli, a populist who oversaw a time period of huge infrastructure assignments in the state, such as design of the capital’s 1st metro line, is the 1st former president convicted of a crime in Panama.
Past yr, the United States govt barred Martinelli and his instant family members from entering the nation, primarily based on what it called his involvement in “significant” corruption.
Martinelli would not be the very first ex-president fleeing the regulation to land in Nicaragua. President Daniel Ortega’s administration granted citizenship to former President Mauricio Funes in 2019. He had liked political asylum in the region since 2016 and faces allegations of illicit enrichment and embezzlement in El Salvador.
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Adhere to AP’s protection of Latin The usa and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america