Former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli announced his arrival on Saturday in Colombia, where he obtained asylum after spending fifteen months at the Nicaragua Embassy in Panama, escaping a heavy prison sentence for money laundering.
The Panamanian government “granted the necessary safe conduct” for “the safe release of the Panamanian citizen Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal” to Colombia, who granted him the asylum, the Panamanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Mr. Martinelli, president from 2009 to 2014, published a photo of him on Instagram late Saturday, writing that he was “happy” to be in the Colombian capital, Bogota.
“It is distressing that the government has issued her a safe conduct,” said Lina Vega, president of the Panamanian branch of the NGO Transparency International, evoking “the triumph of impunity” and “a farce for justice”.
While he was in the premises of the Nicaragua Embassy, Mr. Martinelli expressed his political opinions on social networks daily, arousing several complaints from the Panamanian government.
Found of controversy, he also published videos showing him exercising, participating in barbecues. His selfies with his dog Bruno, lying in a hammock or relaxing in the bubbles of a jacuzzi, had become viral.
He won the presidential election in 2009 thanks to a virulent anti -corruption speech, but a dozen of his ministers or former senior officials were arrested for corruption after his departure.
Alloy of right president Jose Raul Mulino, Mr. Martinelli had been sentenced to almost eleven years in prison in 2023 for money laundering. He said he was the victim of political persecution.
Ricardo Martinelli, 73, boss of a supermarket chain, was found guilty of having used public money on commissions during his mandate for infrastructure projects, in order to buy a majority participation in a publishing house, Editora Panama America.
He had found refuge at the Nicaragua Embassy in February 2024, shortly before an arrest warrant was issued against him.
In the polls, Mr. Martinelli, which remained very popular in his country, was at the top of the race for the presidential election of May 2024, but he had been disqualified by his conviction and replaced by his running mate Jose Raul Mulino. The latter then granted him a safe conduct for Nicaragua in March.
But the Nicaraguan government has refused to welcome Mr. Martinelli, the Panamanian government that could not guarantee that the former president was not the subject of an international arrest warrant in Interpol.
