Court in Panama seeks to guarantee a second trial of Martinelli

(CNN Spanish) – The Panamanian justice determined this Tuesday that former President Ricardo Martinelli will be defended by a public defender in the event that the lawyer representing him does not attend a new trial for illegal wiretapping allegedly ordered by the former president, who ruled Panama between 2009 and 2014. .

The measure was taken by three judges of the Oral Trial Court, which in turn set July 5 as the new date for the trial against Martinelli because he and his lawyer, Alma Cortés, sent medical records to certify disabilities and were not they presented to the hearing that was due to begin Tuesday.

Martinelli is accused of alleged crimes of telecommunications interception, and of monitoring, persecution and surveillance without judicial authorization during his mandate. The former president has previously said that he is a victim of persecution and that they seek to disqualify him politically. It also ensures that the case of the alleged illegal wiretapping is prescribed.

In a first trial, in August 2019, a court declared him “not guilty”, but that sentence was annulled on November 20, 2020 by an appeals court, which ordered a new trial with three judges other than the of the previous sentence.

They ask for a medical evaluation of Martinelli

On Monday, the day before the hearing for the second trial, Martinelli put on his Twitter account a document reporting that he had spinal surgery on June 20.

On Tuesday night, through another message on that same social network, he asked to donate blood.

Given his absence and the presentation of disabilities, the Oral Trial Court issued orders to the Ministry of Health to verify the veracity of the medical disabilities presented and instructed the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences to medically evaluate Martinelli, as a urgency.

In the same way, the Public Defense Institute was asked to appoint a public defender for the next hearing date in case the private defense of the ex-president does not appear.

For its part, the Public Ministry asked to verify whether the surgery performed was elective or emergency; and proposed that, if necessary, the hearing be held electronically or virtually to guarantee the presence of the accused.

CNN has made repeated efforts to elicit reactions from Martinelli or attorney Alma Cortés, but has so far had no response.

In his Twitter account, Cortés pointed out that the Trial Court acted in contempt of the suspension order issued within a protection of guarantees against the setting of the hearing date; and that Ricardo Martinelli is under the orders of a habeas corpus court and not the Trial Court.