As each day goes by there are more arguments that are adding to the disadvantages that arise before the extradition request against former President of the Republic, Ricardo Martinelli.
Jorge Eduardo Ritter, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic, in an interview in the RPC Television program Cara a Cara, revealed a new element which could create major difficulties in the Judiciary which has started to investigate the former President.
Mr. Ritter said that the agreement of extradition of 1904 between Panama and United States establishes that the person that has been requested in extradition may just be investigated for the crime for which the request has been made.
"If the Government of the United States agreed to the extradition, only in the case for the crime of telephone intervention could be judged", said Mr. Ritter.
This, according to Ritter, should the extradition of Martinelli occur, would cause that more than 10 processes for which the former President is being investigated in the Supreme Court of Justice be filed.
The case of the telephone intervention is the closest thing to a firm process against former President Ricardo Martinelli, since it is the only one in which there is a statement by a prosecutor against the former President.
However, it is the most questioned, since this pronouncement has been pointed out by the defense lawyers of Martinelli and even other Jurists, as an overt violation of due process.
The reason is that in this process there has been an accusation for magistrate Harry Diaz judge, without submission of charges, as established in the criminal code procedures just as has been applied in special processes, such as the assistant Deputy Samuel Benett, who got off in a trial carried out by the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice.
Complicated
Foreign Affairs Minister Isabel Saint Malo de Alvarado herself has also faced the disadvantages come with the request for extradition against Martinelli, since as she states, this is a complicated case.
The reason is that the case of the telephone intervention is not set within the extraditable offences in the mutual agreement between Panama and the United States.
Mr. Ritter acknowledged this argument, however, he adds another element that makes this extradition process unfair and it is related to the legal situation of Martinelli in Panama.
In the case of telephone intervention, despite the fact that there is a letter of accusation, it is only a request, since even there has not been a court hearing that validates this accusation by the judge of warranty.
"For an extradition to happen there has to be a charge and for an accusation he must be present in the country," said Mr. Ritter, providing a detailed explanation of the difficulties of this process against Martinelli.
