Extradition to US of children of former president of Panama imminent

[Judi Lynn]

Extradition to US of children of former president of Panama imminentPanama, Sep 10 (Prensa Latina) Brothers Ricardo and Luis Martinelli Linares, sons of former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal (2009-2014), may be extradited from Guatemala to the United States shortly for money laundering, the press reported.

The arrest of both on July 6th is proof that the authorities of Guatemala knew the causes beforehand, and were only waiting for the necessary documentation that they received last Friday, according to statements from the Foreign Ministry and the Public Ministry.

The Foreign Ministry indicated that there is a 'total willingness of the Guatemalan authorities to collaborate with the legal procedures that are followed in the courts of justice and their respect for the separation of powers.'

Angel Pineda, official of the Public Ministry of Guatemala, stressed for his part that there was a deadline for the United States government to generate the formal request for extradition and once in possession of the file, the development of the legal actions of each country depends on internal regulations, which are simplified by the bilateral agreements existing with the United States.

The official explained that the appeals presented by the lawyers of the Martinelli brothers do not correspond to the practice of justice in their country, but it is a requirement that the judges issue a rejection decision before deciding on extradition, which the defendants can also appeal.

Regarding the alleged immunity of the accused because they were elected alternate deputies of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), Pinera said that the attorney general requested information from the institution based in the capital of Guatemala, but the answer was that they do not have that protection, therefore, it was only 'a media action rather than a legal basis.'

The Martinelli brothers were detained at the request of the United States for money laundering, according to a case filed last June 27th in the Eastern District of New York, where they are accused of receiving 28 million dollars as a bribe from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht .

https://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=59668&SEO=extradition-to-us-of-children-of-former-president-of-panama-imminent

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Their father, the former Panamanian President Roberto Martinelli, and an acquaintance



Should the commoner, whose hand he's shaking, count his fingers?



As soon as he learned Panama's government wanted him, he went to
Italy to visit his old pal, Silvio Berlusconi





If he got much happier he'd start chewing his
tongue.















Martinelli's fellow President, Peru's Alan Garcia, on the left, killed himself when they came to take him away.