Criminal electoral jurisdiction of former President Martinelli, in the New Business case, is unconstitutional

The decision of the Electoral Court that maintained the criminal jurisdiction of former President Ricardo Martinelli for the New Business case, was declared unconstitutional on the afternoon of this Thursday, August 11, by the plenary session of the Supreme Court of Justice.
With this ruling of the Court, all impediment would be lifted so that former President Martinelli has been called to trial in the New Business case.

The facts of this case date back to March 6, 2017, when the Prosecutor’s Office was able to identify that the purchase of the shares of Editora Panamá América, a public limited company dedicated to the publication of different newspapers with national circulation, was carried out through a complex scheme in which involved legal and natural persons, who carried out financial stratification maneuvers, through multiple national and international transactions, managing to collect between December 15 and 27, 2010, the sum of B/.43,912,828.94 in a bank account belonging to the company New Business Services Limited, in an offshore bank.

Previously, the judge liquidating criminal cases and in charge of this case, Baloisa Marquínes, had requested removal of Martinelli’s criminal electoral jurisdiction.
Preliminary information indicates that the Supreme Court of Justice agreed by majority to declare this decision of the Electoral Tribunal as an unconstitutional action.