The government that is headed Daniel Ortega V Nicaragua Asylum granted this Wednesday former President of Panama (2009-2014) and candidate for re-election. Ricardo Martinelliwho was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison and pay a fine of more than $19 million for money laundering.

“In accordance with the Asylum Convention of 1928 and the Political Asylum Convention of 1933, ratified by our country and recognizing that asylum is an institution of a humanitarian nature and that all persons can be protected by it, without distinction of nationalityNicaragua has decided “to grant asylum to Mr. Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal, former President of the Republic of Panama,” the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In a letter sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama, Nicaragua explained that Martinelli asked for asylum at the Embassy of the Republic of Nicaragua in Panamajournalist Consuelo Sandoval, “because he considers himself to be persecuted for political reasons and his life, physical integrity and safety are under immediate threat.”

In this sense, the Government of Nicaragua asked the Government of Panama to provide guarantees for “the speedy departure and humanitarian transportation of asylum seeker Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal to the territory of the Republic of Nicaragua.”

This was reported by a source close to the ex-president. EFE that Martinelli sought asylum from the Nicaraguan government because Panama has “no constitutional guarantees” and “no law” after he was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for money laundering. The same source confirmed EFE that the Nicaraguan Ministry of Foreign Affairs had granted the asylum request.

Meanwhile, Dr. Daniel ZovattoRegional Director of International IDEA for Latin America and the Caribbean, comments that this statement causes “legal dispute” since article one of the Convention reads:

States have no right to grant asylum in diplomatic missions, on warships, in camps or in military aircraft to persons accused of ordinary crimes who have been duly tried or convicted by ordinary courts, or to deserters on land or at sea. The persons mentioned in the previous paragraph, who take refuge in some of the places indicated therein, shall be extradited as soon as the local government so requests.

Martinelli considers himself politically persecuted

Martinelli, 71, who describes himself as politically persecuted, said last Saturday on his social media account. X What “the forces of evil strive” to disable him in the May 5 general election, in which he is seeking the presidency for his new Goals Realization (RM) party, banking on voter favoritism, according to the few polls available.

With the confirmation of the sentence following an appeal, the last legal remedy for its reversal was rejected by the court. Supreme Court in the uncontested decision published in the decree last Friday, Martinelli disqualified from being a candidatethey said EFE lawyers who cited the Constitution and the Electoral Code and explained that this requires a number of procedures.

The sentence disqualifies Martinelli, since it amounts to more than 5 years of imprisonment and taking into account the nature of the crime, lawyers believe, taking as a basis Article 180 of the current Constitution.

“The Electoral Court will enforce due process and, above all, what the Constitution and the law governing the electoral process say,” the elections governing body said in a statement “amid growing misinformation surrounding the candidacy” of Martinelli.

He was sentenced to 128 months in prison.

The former president was sentenced last July to 128 months in prison and a fine. $19.2 million fine for illegal purchase of a media publisher EpasaCase dating back to 2017.

Following the dismissal of the appeal, Martinelli’s case must be remanded to the original sentencing authority, the Criminal Court, to determine how his conduct or arrest will be effective. It is unclear how long this will take.

Martinelli was was under preventive detention between June 2018 and June 2019. in El Renacer, a maximum security prison located on the outskirts of the capital, while he was on trial for illegally tapping the telecommunications of 150 people during his government, a case in which he was acquitted.