The former Panamanian president, Ricardo Martinelli, described this Monday, in a mocking tone, as a “novel” the investigation carried out in Spain for allegedly spying on a former partner, in a case where initially there were a dozen detainees.
In a video released on his Twitter account, Martinelli claims to be in a Panamanian bookstore, looking for a book to understand “the Spanish story.”
I am “looking for a book (…) on Greek mythology and Norse mythology, because since they invent everything for me, that new soap opera that they invented for me in Spain, that novel, I want to understand what mythology is, because they really don’t know what to invent,” he said.
According to the Spanish press, Martinelli would have ordered to spy on a woman, with whom he allegedly had a relationship.
The events would have taken place in July 2020, when this woman was on vacation on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands).
“Eleven people were arrested” for this case, four of them Civil Guard agents, a police spokesman confirmed to AFP last week.
The detainees are accused of “being part of a criminal group and harassing a woman” by “order of a person from Panama,” added the police source.
Those arrested, who called themselves “Group Kougar”, watched and followed the woman in Palma (capital of Mallorca) and on the beaches she visited. They even spied on her from jet skis when she was on a boat, according to the newspaper El Mundo.
According to legal sources confirmed to AFP, Martinelli – who is already being tried in Spain for a case of alleged corruption – is also being investigated for this case.
However, the former president (2009-2014) says in the video that they are all inventions.
Martinelli was tried and acquitted last November in Panama in a case in which he was accused of having illegally spied on opponents during his term.
In Spain, he is being tried for allegedly receiving bribes from the Spanish construction company FCC in exchange for contracts for public works during his government.
In 2022, two sons of the former president were indicted in the United States on charges of conspiracy to launder tens of millions of dollars of bribes from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht for the benefit of a “close relative” who was a “high-ranking public official” between 2009 and 2014 .
