The former President of the Republic, Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014) did not answer the questions of the Second Prosecutor against Organized Crime about the purchase of the Epasa Group allegedly with public funds, and the diligence ended with the order to prohibit the ex-ruler from leaving the country, without judicial authorization.
The precautionary measure was issued this Thursday, July 2, by the Second Prosecutor against Organized Crime, Emeldo Márquez, who summoned him the day before to render an investigation for the alleged commission of the crime of money laundering , in the case known as New Business.
The inquired person availed himself of article 25 of the Constitution - which indicates that no one is obliged to testify against himself. He claimed the application of the specialty principle contained in the extradition treaty agreed in 1904 by the United States and Panama, and showed a certificate issued by cardiologist Gabriel Frago, stating that he is incapacitated from July 1 to 3. On July 3, Martinelli has another investigation, this time at the request of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office that investigates the bribes that Odebrecht paid in Panama. In that prosecutor's office, former president Juan Carlos Varela (2014-2019) declares at the moment .
Dr. Frago already treated Martinelli as a private doctor, when he was previously detained in El Renacer, after being extradited by the United States, where he was detained for a year. On several occasions, Frago certified that his client suffered from coronary heart disease, chronic high blood pressure, sleep apnea, glaucoma and depression, among other conditions. Frago even gave testimony, under oath, in the hearings before magistrate Jerónimo Mejía , who served as judge of guarantees for the puncture case, when the jurisdiction was held by the Supreme Court of Justice.
Roniel Ortiz, Martinelli's lawyer, reported that there are no further summons, given that his client is incapacitated by Frago. When asked by journalists whether that means he won't appear for the Odebrecht bribery probe on Friday, Ortiz responded angrily.
How is he going to come, if he is disabled? In any case, he announced that invoking article 25 of the Constitution is the strategy we are going to use. In fact, he specified that with the prosecutor Márquez.
Martinelli also declared himself the victim of political persecution, and accused prosecutors of responding to Kenya Porcell, who last December resigned as attorney for the Nation and was replaced by Eduardo Ulloa.
All this happened because I hijacked the current accounts of Kenya Porcell, he told reporters.
I am the largest businessman in this country, the one who pays the most taxes. If the law, the Constitution and international treaties violate me, what won't they do to the rest of the investors? He remarked.
The former president blames Porcell, 'who still has her tentacles here', and also Juan Carlos Varela, 'who still rules in this Public Ministry'. The journalists asked him to explain, then, how it was possible that Varela - if he still had command ... -, was at that time in an investigation, but Martinelli avoided those questions and changed his version: the purpose of the case really was about 'closing' the Epasa Group, which publishes the newspaper El Panamá América , 'the only independent media that tells the truth'.
This is all a political hoax on the part of Juan Carlos Varela and Kenya Porcell! They are the ones who rule this Public Ministry, he said when he left the place.
Martinelli insists on the application of the specialty principle, despite the fact that the United States - through its embassy in Panama and the US State Department - has indicated that this principle is no longer in force, because the former president has traveled outside of Panama since September of 2019. Leaving the country is one of the exceptions to the specialty principle, as stated in the 1904 bilateral treaty.
Roniel Ortíz sent a written warning last Wednesday to the prosecutor against Organized Crime, Emeldo Márquez , in which he maintains that his client "has not renounced his principle of specialty."
The specialty principle implies that Martinelli could not be prosecuted for cases other than the one for which he was extradited by the United States, in June 2018. For this case, in August 2019, a court declared him not guilty – a sentence that is currently on appeal.
Since December 2019, the United States has reported that Panama is free to prosecute and try Martinelli for other cases.
This Thursday, Martinelli told reporters that he will succeed in the New Business case, as he said - with the one involving the punctures, because they are "mounted" investigations.
In this case, the prosecution investigates about 40 people for the alleged commission of the crime of money laundering in transactions for the purchase of Epasa.
The New Business company served as a “basket” to accumulate at least $ 43.9 million, which was used to acquire the publisher in 2010, when Martinelli was president.
The inquired person availed himself of article 25 of the Constitution - which indicates that no one is obliged to testify against himself. He claimed the application of the specialty principle contained in the extradition treaty agreed in 1904 by the United States and Panama, and showed a certificate issued by cardiologist Gabriel Frago, stating that he is incapacitated from July 1 to 3. On July 3, Martinelli has another investigation, this time at the request of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office that investigates the bribes that Odebrecht paid in Panama. In that prosecutor's office, former president Juan Carlos Varela (2014-2019) declares at the moment .
Dr. Frago already treated Martinelli as a private doctor, when he was previously detained in El Renacer, after being extradited by the United States, where he was detained for a year. On several occasions, Frago certified that his client suffered from coronary heart disease, chronic high blood pressure, sleep apnea, glaucoma and depression, among other conditions. Frago even gave testimony, under oath, in the hearings before magistrate Jerónimo Mejía , who served as judge of guarantees for the puncture case, when the jurisdiction was held by the Supreme Court of Justice.
Roniel Ortiz, Martinelli's lawyer, reported that there are no further summons, given that his client is incapacitated by Frago. When asked by journalists whether that means he won't appear for the Odebrecht bribery probe on Friday, Ortiz responded angrily.
How is he going to come, if he is disabled? In any case, he announced that invoking article 25 of the Constitution is the strategy we are going to use. In fact, he specified that with the prosecutor Márquez.
Martinelli also declared himself the victim of political persecution, and accused prosecutors of responding to Kenya Porcell, who last December resigned as attorney for the Nation and was replaced by Eduardo Ulloa.
All this happened because I hijacked the current accounts of Kenya Porcell, he told reporters.
I am the largest businessman in this country, the one who pays the most taxes. If the law, the Constitution and international treaties violate me, what won't they do to the rest of the investors? He remarked.
The former president blames Porcell, 'who still has her tentacles here', and also Juan Carlos Varela, 'who still rules in this Public Ministry'. The journalists asked him to explain, then, how it was possible that Varela - if he still had command ... -, was at that time in an investigation, but Martinelli avoided those questions and changed his version: the purpose of the case really was about 'closing' the Epasa Group, which publishes the newspaper El Panamá América , 'the only independent media that tells the truth'.
This is all a political hoax on the part of Juan Carlos Varela and Kenya Porcell! They are the ones who rule this Public Ministry, he said when he left the place.
Martinelli insists on the application of the specialty principle, despite the fact that the United States - through its embassy in Panama and the US State Department - has indicated that this principle is no longer in force, because the former president has traveled outside of Panama since September of 2019. Leaving the country is one of the exceptions to the specialty principle, as stated in the 1904 bilateral treaty.
Roniel Ortíz sent a written warning last Wednesday to the prosecutor against Organized Crime, Emeldo Márquez , in which he maintains that his client "has not renounced his principle of specialty."
The specialty principle implies that Martinelli could not be prosecuted for cases other than the one for which he was extradited by the United States, in June 2018. For this case, in August 2019, a court declared him not guilty – a sentence that is currently on appeal.
Since December 2019, the United States has reported that Panama is free to prosecute and try Martinelli for other cases.
This Thursday, Martinelli told reporters that he will succeed in the New Business case, as he said - with the one involving the punctures, because they are "mounted" investigations.
In this case, the prosecution investigates about 40 people for the alleged commission of the crime of money laundering in transactions for the purchase of Epasa.
The New Business company served as a “basket” to accumulate at least $ 43.9 million, which was used to acquire the publisher in 2010, when Martinelli was president.