The Panamanian government announced this on Friday Das rejected former President Ricardo Martinelli’s request for safe passage to Nicaraguawhich is located in that country’s embassy in Panama City.
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On Wednesday, Nicaragua granted Martinelli asylum at the request of the former president. who last week saw his country’s highest court uphold a conviction against him that would prevent him from running in May’s presidential election.
The Isthmus’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by Martinelli and last Friday upheld a 2023 sentence of 128 months in prison for his role in using public money to buy a media conglomerate and obtain a controlling stake. In the past, the former president had protested his innocence.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that today (…) the request for safe passage of Mr. Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal to leave the territory of the Republic of Panama was rejected,” the Isthmus Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The decision was communicated to the Nicaraguan Ambassador to Panama, Consuelo Sandoval, who was also reminded of the obligation to ensure that the diplomatic headquarters should not be used “in an incompatible manner.”
“Any action, statement or communication by former President Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal from the diplomatic headquarters that has an impact or impact on the internal politics of Panama will be considered interference in the internal affairs of our country and will therefore entail diplomatic consequences,” the said Panamanian Foreign Ministry.
Martinelli, a 71-year-old supermarket magnate, persists despite the court ruling will remain a presidential candidate in the next electionsS. Martinelli, who ruled Panama between 2009 and 2014, is ahead in most polls heading into the May vote. The Constitution of Panama states that no person sentenced to more than five years in prison for intentional crimes can be president or vice president of the country.
dmr