Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli said this Friday that he wants his two sons, detained for more than a year in Guatemala for extradition purposes to the United States for the Odebrecht case, to go to that country soon to "prove your innocence".
"I would like my children to go as quickly as possible to the United States because they have to prove their innocence there"The former president told journalists outside the courthouse where he faces a trial for political espionage during his term (2009-2014).
Luis Enrique and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares were arrested in Guatemala on July 6, 2020 when they tried to travel to Panama in a private plane, at the request of the United States, which is requesting them for extradition in the Odebrecht case.
According to the formal accusation made public on February 5, both brothers were indicted by the New York District Attorney’s Office with a crime of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two crimes of withholding information for that purpose, between 2009 and 2015.
The Guatemalan Foreign Ministry has already transferred the documentation to formalize the extradition of Luis Enrique to the US embassy and it will now be the United States Government that dictates the times for the delivery of the detainee, Guatemalan official sources confirmed last Wednesday.
"It really fills me with great joy and satisfaction that this is over soon, because one has to show and show one’s face. When you don’t owe it, you don’t fear it"said the former president, adding that his children "they will have to go to the US to prove it (their innocence) there", since they could not get to Panama to do it here.
In Panama, the Martinelli brothers are charged with alleged money laundering in a case known as "Blue apple", for which the judge in the case, Baloisa Marquínez, requested his extradition to Guatemala, which denied it, arguing that there is no agreement on the matter between the two countries.
The Panama Prosecutor’s Office also asked to bring the Martinelli brothers to trial for the Odebrecht case, a cause for which their father is accused of money laundering and is prohibited from leaving the country.
In Guatemala, in the case of Luis Enrique, his transfer to the United States was ordered on May 25 by the Fifth Criminal Sentencing Court of the Guatemalan Judicial Branch.
Regarding Ricardo Alberto, it is still pending that the Third Criminal Sentencing Court decides whether to grant the extradition or not, since there are other appeals filed by his defense before an Appeals Chamber.
Former President Martinelli faces a second trial for the political espionage case, since the first, in which he was declared "not guilty" it was overturned by a court of Appeals.
Martinelli, who calls this process "political hoax", faces eight years in prison for having allegedly intercepted the telecommunications of some 150 people, including journalists, businessmen, opponents and even political allies of his.
In Panama, in addition to the cases "punctures" and Odebrecht, Martinelli is charged with the crime of money laundering in the case "New Business", linked to the purchase of a media conglomerate.
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