The continuing story of Ricardo Martinelli, his family and trials

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Mexico apes Martinelli spy program

Posted on June 20, 2017 in Panama

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AS A BATTERY of lawyers for Panama’s ex-president  are  working on strategies to block his extradition from the United States, to face charges of illegal surveillance, reports are circulating around the world about Mexico authorities using the same hacking software [Pegasus]used by Martinelli’s government to spy on political opponents  journalists and critics of his administration.

Last weekend, The New York Times (NYT) reported in a  front page story: “Mexico’s most prominent human rights lawyers, journalists and anti­corruption activists have been targeted by advanced spyware sold to the Mexican government on the condition that it be used only to investigate criminals and terrorists”.

It was referring to the software created by the Israeli company NSO Group which sold the software to Panama. It disappeared after Martinelli was succeeded as president by Juan Carlos Varela.

Martinelli left his home country soon after and now faces up to 21 years in jail if convicted for spying activities.

The Israeli cyber arms manufacturer claims that they verify each country’s human rights history before selling them the espionage software.

But, in the light of what has been discovered, the exam appears to be superficial says the NYT.

In Mexico, the list of those that have been spied includes, for example, lawyers that were investigating the disappearance of 43 students in Ayotzinapa; an economist that helped draft a bill against corruption, two  f the country’s most influential journalists and an American citizen who represents victims of sexual abuse committed by the Mexican police.

In Panama, during Ricardo Martinelli’s government, those who were spied fit a very similar profile: lawyers, political adversaries, journalists (among them, some from La Prensa),

The NYT  published, in 2010, a story that revealed Martinelli’s demands to use Matador, a wiretapping program to spy on political adversaries, even threatening to expel the DEA from Panama if the United States removed its equipment from the Security Council. Martinelli even warned that he would replace the DEA with services from Israel.

Martinelli even warned that he would replace the DEA with services from Israel.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/mexico-apes-martinelli-spy-program

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Bail hearing on hold: “Martinelli can buy exile” – US prosecutor

Posted on June 20, 2017 in Panama

The court building with detention center adjoining

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HANDCUFFED and wearing leg shackles and brown prison uniform, Panama’s former president Ricardo Martinelli, shuffled from a Miami courtroom to return to a sterile  6×11 feet cell in a local detention center after an extradition hearing on Tuesday June 20.

Courtroom sketch Martinelli and lawyer

Judge Edwin Torres, of the Southern District Court of Florida, did not make a decision in favor of the former president (2009- 2014).  He said he needs more time to review reports provided  by Martinelli’s defense.

The judge did not set a hearing date, so it is not known when he will communicate his decision.

Tuesday’s hearing began at  2:00 p.m. (1:00 p.m. Panama time) at the Justice James Lawrence King Federal Building and ended at 4:00 p.m. (3:00 p.m. in Panama).

Sisters and two nephews of Martinelli  were present at the hearing, according to his  legal team.

Martinelli’s lawyers had proposed to the judge a “package” in favor of the release of his client, including

Including  10% of a $ 5 million bond, which is backed by Marta de Martinelli.

Prosecutor Adam Fels said he opposes bail and  emphasized that there is a risk of escape and that Martinelli [a self-proclaimed billionaire] has  sufficient economic means and connections in several countries. “He can buy his exile,” the prosecutor said.

Before the hearing, Martinelli had already spent eight days detained at the request of Panama’s Supreme Court of Justice, as part of the case of unauthorized interception Of communications by the National Security Council during his rule.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/bail-hearing-hold-martinelli-can-buy-exile-us-prosecutor

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Martinelli gets Public Defenders

Posted on June 21, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 181

ANOTHER   Supreme Court case involving ex-president Ricardo Martinelli increasingly resembles a three act mystery stage play with the supporting cast making brief on-stage appearances to spout their lines while the principle actors lurk in the wings.

Meanwhile, the audience is dozing or heading for the doors, bored with the never ending story, increasingly convinced that this time good is not going to win over evil.

The  plot is the  continuation of the hearing of charges against  Martinelli, for abuse of authority by granting  353 pardons  (some for criminal offense)  days before the end of his presidential term

On Wednesday, June 21, at the request of prosecutor  Abel Zamorano  following the request of Supreme Court  Judge José Ayú Prado, two of the characters  were  public defender understudies, appointed to represent Martinelli, whose well paid lawyer had slipped away to Miami where his client is behind bars awaiting extradition and the decision of a judge on a bail request.

The Panama hearing, which resumed on Wednesday for the third time, will now await the bail decision before setting a new date, although, even if granted bail, Martinelli is not likely to be heading back to Panama where he faces a dozen criminal investigations including corruption and embezzlement.

The designated  public defender under studies  are Roummel Salerno and Danilo Montenegro, who followed the script  and agreed with Zamorano to suspend the hearing and set  a new date guaranteeing the right of the former president to be present at the hearing.

Ayú Prado in the second hearing had suspended the diligence, after reading an email sent 24 hours earlier by Sidney Sittón, playing the role of defense lawyer, in which he explained that he could not attend the hearing because he had to travel to Miami.

He was let off the hook by Ayu Prado whose meteoric two-year rise from a low-level plodder at the Public Ministry to Attorney General and then to the Supreme Court was stage managed by Martinelli.

If Martinelli can’t make it, Perhaps it’s time to insert “sentenced in absentia” into the script.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/off-cuff-martinelli-gets-public-defenders

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US Prosecutor rebutts Martinelli political persecution claim

Posted on June 23, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 180

US  PROSECUTOR  Benjamin G. Greenberg has rebutted  a letter filed by defense lawyers of ex-president Ricardo Martinelli’s defense that charges for illegal wiretapping are political in nature and fall into the category of espionage and are not subject to the extradition treaty Between Panama and the United States.

Citing numerous legal precedents, Greenberg distinguishes between “pure” political crimes, such as treason, sedition and espionage, which affect the state, and “relative” crimes, which also affect private interests.

In his view, the illegal interceptions of private communications investigated by the Supreme Court of Panama and those believed to have been victimized by hundreds of people, including opponents of the Martinelli Government (2009-2014), fall into the second category.

The accusations have to do with laws protecting the right to privacy and unauthorized surveillance against people, “are not crimes directed against the State,” he says.

Greenberg mentions that if one takes into account article VI of the Treaty of Bilateral Extradition of 1904, Martinelli can be extradited by the crimes that are included in the petition Panamanian.

The defense filed in filed five letters from people who support Martinell  including Miami  university professor, Bruce Michael Bagley, who urges the US authorities to grant political asylum to Martinelli.

Bagley, an “expert on Latin American politics” writes  that Martinelli made Panama one of the most effective US partners. in Central America.

He says that since the end of his term he has been subjected “systematically to political persecution” by his “opponents / enemies, who now rule Panama.”

Another letter signed by Leonor Linero of the Family Builders Foundation in the USA, says that Martinelli has been an “extraordinary volunteer” of that entity and has dedicated “many hours” each week to “help the most vulnerable in the community”.

Albero Osorio who calls himself  “a man of family and principles” who has known Martinelli for several years  says he is “a man of high integrity.”

In the same terms, Colombian Adriana Gallego and Alfred Santamaria, a community leader from Miami-Dade County, made reference to the application for political asylum and emphasized “leadership and compassion”.

Martinelli was arrested on June 12 in Coral Gables, Miami where he has his  $8 million residence because of an extradition request to respond to Panamanian Justice on charges of illegal espionage and embezzlement.  So far, two hearings have been held, the last one on Tuesday, in which the defense has insisted that both the arrest warrant and the extradition request are invalid and that the allegations are of a political nature.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/us-prosecutor-rebutts-martinelli-political-persecution-claim

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The blocker blocked in corruption probe

Posted on June 23, 2017 in Panama

 

The overcost unfinished highway

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THE MAN whose employees once blocked the delivery trucks of La Prensa from leaving the building  after the publication of  articles  highlighting perceived irregularities in projects ordered by the Ricardo Martinelli administration is now himself blocked from carrying on with his daily activities.

Ochy trucks blockade

Daniel Ochy, representative of Transcaribe Trading (TCT), is behind bars at the DIJ headquarters in Ancon, where he arrived in handcuffs late Wednesday night, June 22,  after a day of tough questioning by anti-corruption prosecutor Adecio Mojica who since August 2015 has been investigating, an alleged overcost of more than $60 million in the project for the extension of the Arraiján La Chorrera highway, handed to the  much-favored company by the Martinelli administration.

The expansion and rehabilitation project was awarded to the Ochy company at a cost of $152.6 million with a

two and a half years deadline with delivery scheduled for March 2013.

But four years and three months later the work has not been completed.

The  current Minister of Public Works, Ramón Arosemena, said on Wednesday, June 21, “we are still struggling to build a worthy road according to the contract that the company signed with the Ministry in the last administration.”

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/blocker-blocked-corruption-probe

[Keith Woolford]

Turns out Martinelli also tapped the phones of a couple of U.S. citizens. Tsk tsk. That revelation may not bode well for him in the States where they frown on that type of behaviour and he could face U.S. charges. There are plenty in Panama would love to see him locked up there instead of here where he can pull strings.

https://www.tvn-2.com/mundo/Martinelli-enfrentar-espionaje-ciudadanos-EEUU_0_4789021146.html

Interesting to look back at Panama Guide posts from 2010 about Wikileaks, Martinelli, former Ambassador Stephenson, and wiretap equipment

http://www.panama-guide.com/index.php?topic=news&page=214

 

 

Edited June 27, 2017 by Keith Woolford

[JimAndNena]

47 minutes ago, Keith Woolford said:

Turns out Martinelli also tapped the phones of a couple of U.S. citizens. Tsk tsk. That revelation may not bode well for him in the States where they frown on that type of behaviour and he could face U.S. charges. There are plenty in Panama would love to see him locked up there instead of here where he can pull strings.

https://www.tvn-2.com/mundo/Martinelli-enfrentar-espionaje-ciudadanos-EEUU_0_4789021146.html

Interesting to look back at Panama Guide posts from 2010 about Wikileaks, Martinelli, former Ambassador Stephenson, and wiretap equipment

http://www.panama-guide.com/index.php?topic=news&page=214

 

 

The US has recorded every cell phone, Internet communication since 9/11. Bluffdale has it all stored and nobody is doing anything to stop that. I doubt Martinelli is even a blip.

[Moderator_02]

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Martinelli sons got $35 million from Odebrecht – witness

Posted on July 4, 2017 in Panama

 

Fugitives Ricardo and Luis Martinelli Linares

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WHEN  supermarket billionaire Ricardo Martinelli was elected president  of Panama in 2009, he promised in his inaugural speech, an end to corruption and said  that his administration might make mistakes, but there would be no thievery.

Instead, he ushered  in an era of  alleged bribery and theft from the public purse unmatched since the fall of the military dictatorship in 1989, with direct contracts fluttering out of the presidency like  flakes in an early snowfall,  blackened with grime before they reached the ground.

Among the early benefactors of criminal largesse was the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, whose former executives are spilling their guts to prosecutors in an attempt to ensure their jail terms will not match the 20 years handed down to the company’s president within days of his arrest.

Revelations of massive embezzlement and acceptance of bribes have been labeled “political persecution” by the shrinking band of followers of the Capot, currently fretting in a Miami cell without access to Twitter.

Now Odebrech executive Luiz Antonio Mameri, in charge of approving bribes in Latin America and Angola has told his country’s prosecutors that he authorized $35 million in payments to Luis Enrique and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares, the sons  of the former Martinet.

The money would have been requested by the  Odebrecht boss  in Panama, André Campos Rabello, and Mameri approved it. In exchange, the children of Martinelli, were committed to awarding new projects, streamlining  bureaucratic procedures and accelerating payments to the Brazilian company.

With a long-term Martinelli employee as the country’s comptroller, the bureaucracy wheels were well greased and there was a speedy return of illegal commissions.

Odebrecht became the main contractor of the State and orders ballooned from a few hundred million dollars to several billion in only five years.

The children of the former president, whose whereabouts are currently unknown, have denied receiving bribes from Odebrecht, but meanwhile, $22 million has been seized from a Swiss bank account along with  a multi-million dollar apartment in Madrid, and a helicopter.

Political persecution, corruption, or a mistake ?

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/martinelli-sons-got-35-million-odebrecht-witness

[Moderator_02]

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Martinelli lawyers claim “false” Panama statements

Posted on July 5, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 161

Martinelli lawyers claim “false” Panama statementsLAWYERS  representing Panama’s fugitive ex-president. Ricardo Martinelli, currently imprisoned in a Miami  detention center, have taken a new tack in their attempts to get him released instead of heading back to Panama to face trial, for illegal surveillance, and illicit enrichment.

The defense team  says that Panama made “false  and deceptive” statements in seeking to get Martinelli extrasied from the U.S.

In new documents presented to Judge Edwin Torres, who is in charge of Martinelli’s extradition trial, the  lawyers said that the testimonies also justify his  release

John Richard Byrne and Marcos Daniel Jimenez, representatives of the detainee, said that the “false statements” appear to have been originated “by Supreme Court Justice Harry Diaz, who acts as prosecutor.

“Given the current state of this case, President Martinelli respectfully submits that a bail is appropriate and would allow him to better prepare for the long extradition struggle,” the lawyers said in the court documents, reports the Efe News Agency.

The defense had already argued in a prior bail motion that there were no “merits” in the wiretapping case and the “speculative” character of “belief-based” accusations recorded in an affidavit of, national security analyst Ismael Pitti;

They said  that, after reviewing some 3,000 pages of the extradition request, they determined not only the lack of a “probable cause” but Panama’s intentions to “deceive” the US federal court.

According to the defense, Diaz refers to embezzlement of public funds for more than $13 million with the purchase of a surveillance equipment called Pegasus from the Israeli company MLM Protection Ltd.

However, lawyers claim that the Pegasus equipment was purchased from a completely different company the NSO Group in which Martinelli, , is not involved, according to a 2015 audit by the ame Panamanian government.

In addition, they said  that there is no evidence that public funds were used to purchase the equipment.

The former president has been detained in Miami since June 12 and has asked for bail, but Judge Torres has not yet pronounced.

Prosecutor’s oppose his release  because in their  opinion there is a risk that he will flee the country.

Lawyers have also noted that Martinelli is awaiting the filing of an application for asylum in the United States filed in 2015.

Martinelli, who claims to be persecuted by Panama’s current president, Juan Carlos Varela, who was his vice president, is required by Panamanian courts to face multiple embezzlement charges.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/martinelli-lawyers-claim-false-panama-statements

[Moderator_02]

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Martinelli’s detention time extended

Posted on July 6, 2017 in Panama

 

Martinelli leaving his Bricknell Ave building

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EX-PANAMA PRESIDENT  Ricardo Martinelli  who has spent over three weeks  behind bars in Miami,  awaiting  an extradition  hearing  will have to spend some more time in sparse conditions far removed from his customary luxury lifestyle.

He is confined to a 6 x 11 ft cell, with no access to TV, radio,  computer or his Twitter account He gets one hour a day yard time.

Miami prosecutors Benjamin G. Greenberg and Adam S. Fels, will be out of the country on July 12 and 20  and have asked  Judge Edwin Torres who is reviewing the application for Martinelli’s extradition, to not call hearings on those dates.

The information was communicated Thursday, July 6, to the Southern District Court of Florida.

In case of a planned hearing, the  prosecutors request the Court to give at least three days’ notice

so that the American Department of Justice lawyers have the opportunity to travel from Washington, D.C., to Miami.

Martinellli has been detained since June 12, at the request of the Supreme Court of Panama which is investigating him for the illegal interception of communications through The National Security Council, during his term.

US prosecutors represent the Panamanian State in court, under the bilateral extradition treaty signed between the two countries in 1904 and several multilateral agreements to which the United States and Panama are signatories.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/martinellis-detention-time-extended

[Keith Woolford]

Former President Ricardo Martinelli has been denied bail in Miami, according to this report.

 

Edited July 7, 2017 by Keith Woolford

[Keith Woolford]

The decision as rendered in Miami. Interesting reading.

http://www.thepanamanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Order_Denying_Motion_for_Bond_-1.pdf

[Moderator_02]

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Flight risk keeps Martinelli behind bars

Posted on July 7, 2017 in Panama

 

Is the net tightening?

Post Views: 159

PANAMA’S fugitive former president,  Ricardo Martinelli, presents a flight risk and must remain in custody until the request for extradition to Panama is heard on July 25.

The decision was made Friday July 7 by Judge Edwin Torres of the Court of South District of Florida.

Torres assessed the risk of flight, given that Martinelli, has connections around the world, “so this Court cannot lose control over him until the process is concluded “.

He also underscored the commitment made by the United States to the bilateral extradition with Panama in 1904, and other multilateral conventions of which  The United States is a signatory.

“We undoubtedly invoke extradition treaties for pending cases much  more than other countries ask us for extradition, “the judge said

Torres also reflected on the relevance of extradition agreements. He remembered that already In 1988 his colleague John Kester warned that the tools of collaboration between countries would become very important, given the increase in multinational transactions, ease and speed of air interconnections and the rise of complex economic crimes.

“This forecast is certainly true, as this particular case demonstrates,” he said.

The judge denied  the bail request of Martinelli’s lawyers, despite the fact that he proposed to deposit 10% of a $5 million bond, backed by his w ife Marta Linares de Martinelli, plus another personal bond of $2 million, as well as deliver the custody of his private plane, wear an electronic bracelet, stay in his Miami  residence and and hire the services of a 24-hour police agent (retired).

Martinelli has been detained since June 12 and is required in Panama to face trial for the unauthorized interception of communications by the Security Council during his regime. If convicted he could face up to 21 years imprisonment.

He is also facing numerous corruption and embezzlement charges which he and his supporters have labeled “political persecution.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/flight-risk-keeps-martinelli-behind-bars

[Keith Woolford]

5 hours ago, Keith Woolford said:

The decision as rendered in Miami. Interesting reading.

I was not aware that the Martinellis owned 13% of Global Bank.

[Keith Woolford]

Former President Martinelli's dream team of legal advisors held a press conference yesterday afternoon to announce that they plan to sue the Panamanian ambassador to the U.S.   http://laestrella.com.pa/panama/nacional/martinelli-amenaza-querellar-diplomaticos-panamenos/24012108

[Moderator_02]

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Lawyers claim fake news for Martinelli extradition

Posted on July 10, 2017 in Panama

 

Luis Eduardo Camacho

Post Views: 155

Lawyers for Panama’s jailed fugitive ex-president Ricardo Martinelli, in the face of a refusal of a Miami judge to grant bail,  have returned to their political persecution mantra.

They say they will present “new and additional” evidence on Monday that the Panamanian authorities forwarded “False information” to the United States to include in the extradition process.

Luis Eduardo Camacho, spin doctor for Martinelli while he was in office, and since said in a telephone interview with Efe News Agency that the presentation will be made at a press conference in the Panamanian capital.

US federal judge Edwin Torres announced last Friday that Martinelli will remain in prison until the extradition process ends, as is common in these cases.

Camacho told Efe that he spoke with the former president the same Friday.

“Ricardo Martinelli is a person with a survival instinct rarely seen, and  continues to see his extradition trial with “optimism.”

“He continues to trust in the independence of the institutions in the United States and is sure to take this process of extradition to the end,” said Camacho.

This last sentence seems to allude to the assertion by the US federal judge in the document in which he explained the reasons for not granting him bail,

he pointed out that he will try to streamline the process as much as possible, but recalled that Martinelli is still “free” to skip the US process. And return to Panama, where he could if he wanted apply for bail again, reports

Camacho was convinced that the situation that Martinelli is going through has to do with his “very strong” positions against the regimes of Cuba and Venezuela when he was president.

He asserted that Varela had a “close relationship” with Cuba and Venezuela, “at least” until in June, coinciding with Martinelli’s detention in Miami.

Martinelli’s defense in the extradition trial has already presented a document with alleged evidence of false information contained in the Panamanian Supreme Court’s request, but Camacho said that what will be presented tomorrow are new things that were not in that document.

The former president, who asked for political asylum in the United States. In 2015 alleging persecution on the part of Varela, but has not yet had an answer, is wanted for crimes related to a network of illegal eavesdropping during his government and for embezzlement.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/lawyers-claim-fake-news-martinelli-extradition

[Moderator_02]

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Martinelli legal team press briefing fizzles out

Posted on July 11, 2017 in Panama

 

Out-on bail Alma Cortes, front and center

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A PRESS conference called by lawyers if Martinelli on  Monday July 10, intended to reveal strong evidence of government malfeasance  in  its efforts  to extradite  the ex-president from the US  to face illegal surveillance and embezzlement charges was a damp squib.

The hastily summoned event  held in offices of the Democratic Change Party (CD) founded funded and ruled as a personal fiefdom by Martinelli, as he built a path to the presidency.

Among the press conference  luminaries was former cabinet member Alma Cortes, currently out on $300,000 bail while under investigation  for illegal enrichment and the center of controversy within the CD after being named as stand-in leader.Martinelli was ordered detained on  December 21  2015 and, was charged with the alleged

Martinelli was ordered detained on  December 21  2015 and, was charged with the alleged

Commission of four crimes: inviolability of secrecy and the right to privacy, and embezzlement.

Questions about future defense moves were constantly parried although it was  announced that it will file legal actions against the ambassador of Panama in the US, Emmanuel González Revilla, and an official of the Foreign Ministry in Panama –

Allegedly having “usurped functions and illegally introduced tests and

Documents “in the extradition file to Martinelli.

Among the evidence alleged to have been introduced is an affidavit (statement) of

Ismael Pittí, an ex spy  of the National Security Council that participated in the  unauthorized interceptions in the last two years of the Martinelli government.

“We are not going to enter to give statements about the actions of the defense … We are not going to comment on the legal strategy in the United States. ”  attorney Carlos Carrillo replied, on several occasions.

Journalists left the meeting with little more than they had gained earlier from the railings of long time Martinelli spokesman and rally organizer  Eduardo Camacho with his continued “political persecution” theme.

Martinelli faces nearly a dozen corruption and embezzlement charges in addition to the ones linked to the extradition request.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/martinelli-legal-team-press-briefing-fizzles

[Moderator_02]

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Martinelli must return to face justice – CD delegate

Posted on July 17, 2017 in Panama

 

Erick Levy

Post Views: 162

awaiting extraditionEX-PRESIDENT Ricardo Martinelli is full of contradictions and has no excuse for not coming to Panama to face  justice  says a delegate o

In an analysis of the party  which, has been in disarray since Martinelli  fled the country to self imposed exile .Erick Levy  said  on TVN  it is evident that he could not be a candidate, for office if he is detained

Levy said  that s.ince August 3, 2013, the CD and has not been given renewal, adding that “the board elected at that time, suffered changes and lacks legitimacy.”

He does not agree with the position of expulsion of the CD deputies who voted in favor of  Yanibel Abrego for president of the National Assembly, ignoring the party line of supporting Mariela Vega and , he questioned the way in which CD members planned expulsion  of the deputies, at the last board meeting.

He reiterated that the current board of directors is illegitimate and is unwilling to listen to members of the Party

The CD member calls for the convening of delegate elections and then the election of a The board of directors, so as not to continue postponing the renewal of the CD party.

He indicated that the perception that exists is that the elections have been postponed to provide electoral immunity to members under investigation.

Levy said that as a political leader  Martinelli  Lives in contradictions. He recalled that on 3 August 2008, when the current directive was elected, he wanted to continue in the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) and 80% of CD voted in favor of staying in the regional body. “Subsequently, in 2009 when assuming the Presidency of the Republic, he took us out of Parlacen saying it was a ‘den of thieves’ Then when he finished being president, in less than an hour, Martinelli was sworn in as Deputy of the Parlacen to gain immunity”

According to Levy, Martinelli must return to Panama to face justice,  where there is a group of nine magistrates, of whom he named five.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/martinelli-must-return-face-justice-cd-delegate

[Keith Woolford]

La Prensa is reporting that former President Martinelli's legal team is offering a $20 million bond for his freedom in Miami.

Hiis extradition hearing is now delayed until August 3rd.

 

[Keith Woolford]

According to this TVN article and video, former President Martinelli asked to be moved from his solitary jail cell into the general population or 'genpop' as they called it on HBO's 'The Wire'.

Other inmates have tagged him with the nickname El Tio, or the uncle.

https://www.tvn-2.com/nacionales/judicial/Martinelli-pidio-cambio-apodan-Tio_0_4807019349.html

[Moderator_02]

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Martinelli’s $20 million bail bid rejected

Posted on July 18, 2017 in Panama

Miami court house and adjoining detention center

Post Views: 342

PANAMA’S FUGITIVE  ex-president t Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal, detained in Miami since June 12 while  awaiting .extradition  has raised his  bid for bail to $20 million

On Tuesday July 18  Martinelli’s Miami lawyer Marcos Jiménez Waiting to be extradited to Panama, asked Judge Edwin Torres of the  South Corridor District Court to reconsider his  decision not to release him on bail and to accept payment of a $20 million bond of $ 20 million, equal to that  of  a former FIFA manager arrested in the football corruption scandal in 2015. The judge rejected the offer reports La Prensa.

On July 7, Judge Torres decided not to grant bail to Martinelli on the grounds that there is a high level risk  of flight.  The next appearance of Martinelli Before the judge will be August.3

Martinelli proposed to the judge to apply the same conditions given to the Paraguayan Juan Angel Napout, a   former FIFA vice-president arrested in 2015 In New York on charges of fraud and money laundering. Napoul was granted bail of $ 20 million; Of that amount, $ 10 million was deposited in cash.

A month ago, Martinelli proposed to the judge a “package” consisting of 10% of a bond of $5 million, plus another personal bond of $ 2 million. Additionally, he offered to hand over his private plane, wear an electronic bracelet and stay in his residence, guarded by two former police officers.

The judge turned it down and Martinelli remains in a cell with no access to TV, radio, computer or cell phone, and with one-hour yard-time each day, Only his lawyers are allowed visits.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/martinellis-20-million-bail-bid-rejected

[Moderator_02]

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“Uncle” Martinelli joins general prison population

Posted on July 21, 2017 in Panama

 

Is the net tightening?

Post Views: 241

EX-PRESIDENT Ricardo Martinelli, behind bars in a Miami detention center while awaiting his extradition hearing is no longer in a solitary cell without access to to the outside world according to his spokesman

Eduardo Camacho told TVN that the man who days ago offered to pay bail of $20, million asked to be allowed to mix with other detainees in the Federal jail where he has been Since June 12 tr, when he was arrested in Coral Gables, after the Panama Supreme Court requested his extradition to face the criminal charges of wiretapping political opponents, journalists and businessmen.

Roniel Ortiz, Martinelli’s lawyer in Panama, said that the former president was alone, in a cell , with bed,and bathroom, without windows and there was no way to communicate with anyone.

But four days later, he asked to be transferred with the rest of prisoners of the prison and now his stay Is more bearable.

Martinelli helps the other prisoners, guides them and attends to their inquiries.

His spokesman in Panama, Luis Eduardo Camacho, said that he known by some detainees as ‘The Uncle’ “because of his personality. ”

He Receive visits from 8 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon and from 5 in the afternoon to 9 in the evening, in a lounge where the rest of the detainees receive their relatives and relatives.

Through an innovative idea that was not revealed by Camacho, Martinelli keeps up with everything that is happening in Panama and the world.

Since being arrested, Martinelli has faced two hearings in the Federal Court of Miami and both times Judge Edwin G. Torres denied him bail and a hearing has been scheduled for. Deeming him a flight risk.

An extradition hearing is set for August 3.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/uncle-martinelli-joins-general-prison-population

[Keith Woolford]

One report said Martinelli asked for the change because he got tired of counting the 365 concrete blocks that formed the walls of his solitary cell. 

Private accommodations are not always the same. No comparison to his tax collector's digs over at Hospital Punta Pacifica.

[Brundageba]

Right.  Camacho who from his Presidential suite in Punta Pacifica is Martinelli's designated "spokeman" describing Martinelli as the popular "uncle" to the various inmates there with him in Miami jail.  ( eyes rolling)

Possibly Camacho can put a fire under the those responsible for completion of construction of the various hospital facilities Martinelli began.  There's one in Veraguas 30 minutes from Sona' that is being swallowed up by the jungle.  It is in the same stage of completion as the fine facitity being "completed" here in Boquete. 

[MarieElaine]

3 hours ago, Moderator_02 said:

Martinelli helps the other prisoners, guides them and attends to their inquirie

I wonder what this means?  Is he teaching others how to steal, launder money and generally get away with murder?