Justice in Panama assigns public defenders to former president Martinelli

(CNN Spanish) – The Institute of Public Defense of Panama assigned former President Ricardo Martinelli two public defenders to act on his behalf at the hearing of a second oral trial for alleged illegal wiretapping, which will take place on July 5, in the event that the former president’s lawyer, Alma Cortés, did not attend.

The appointment of the public defenders is due to the fact that on June 22 the new trial could not begin “due to the absence of his legal representative, who presented a certificate of incapacity,” the judicial body assured in a statement.

Given the inconvenience, the Court of Trial ordered the appointment of public defenders “to represent the rights and guarantees of the accused person, in case their interventions are required.”

Ricardo Martinelli, who ruled Panama between 2009 and 2014, is accused of the alleged commission of the crimes of interception of telecommunications, 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. In addition, it 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.

Rubén Gómez and Migdalis Gómez are the designated public defenders, and they will receive the 27 volumes of the file, among other documents, “to guarantee an active defense if they were to intervene in the hearing,” says the judicial body, which argues that “it is committed to comply with the constitutional mandate to administer justice in a free, expeditious and uninterrupted manner ”.

CNN tried to get direct reactions from Martinelli, but his spokesman Luis Camacho said the former president is not available.

His lawyer Alma Cortés told CNN that the Trial Court acted in contempt of the suspension order issued within a protection of constitutional guarantees against the setting of a hearing date, and that Ricardo Martinelli is under the orders of habeas corpus courts and not from the Trial Court, which he describes as “illegal.”

Cortés announced that this Monday he will present criminal complaints against the Trial Court “for abuse of authority, contempt”, as well as two constitutional protections.