RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A Panamanian court has ordered a new trial of former President Ricardo Martinelli in a case alleging he unlawfully spied on politicians, union leaders and journalists during his 2009-2014 presidency, the country’s top prosecutor announced on Friday.
The appeals court threw out Martinelli’s 2019 not guilty verdict, but did not set a date for the new trial.
Prosecutor Ricaurte Gonzalez cited what he described as “an incorrect assessment of much of the evidence” presented at the previous trial.
A supermarket tycoon who sought a political comeback in 2019, the ex-president was accused of ordering the interception of telecommunications without judicial authorization for some 150 individuals.
Martinelli maintained his innocence and accused his successor and one-time ally Juan Carlos Varela of conspiring against him.
Martinelli “El Loco”, (The Crazy) is a Panamanian politician and businessman who was the 36th President of Panama from 2009 to 2014. In May 2017, Interpol issued a red notice (request for international arrest) for the extradition of Ricardo Martinelli, installed in Miami. Panamanian justice accuses the former president of having spied on telephone conversations of about 150 people, including journalists and leaders of the opposition.
Martinelli was arrested in Miami by U.S. Marshals on June 12, 2017 to face extradition to Panama. He was extradited to Panama on June 11, 2018 to face the wiretapping charges.
On August 9, 2019 a 3-judge panel declared Ricardo Martinelli not guilty, the court cleared the former president of espionage and corruption during his administration and ordered him released from house arrest.
Martinelli has also been criticized in the local and international media. In 2011, The Economist described the foreign investment as still hurt by “doubts about the rule of law”, citing suspected corruption in the bidding for the metro contract and the flooding of a wealthy Panama City neighborhood with sewage due to a lack of enforcement of planning laws.
Martinelli was also criticized during his presidency for authoritarian tactics. He sought to reduce the time period before the president could run for re-election though he withdrew when it proved unfeasible. He was accused of tampering with the Supreme Court.
In August 2009, the US Ambassador to Panama, Barbara J. Stephenson, wrote to the US State Department that Martinelli had asked her for wiretaps on his political opponents, and she complained of his “bullying style” and “autocratic tendencies”. A copy of the cable was released in December 2010 by WikiLeaks.
After the leak, Martinelli’s administration said that “help in tapping the telephones of politicians was never requested” and that Stephenson was “mistaken” in her interpretation”.