The offices of Importadora Ricamar, owner of the Super 99 supermarket chain, were yesterday the object of a degree of police deployment that was heavily criticized as excessive. Under the instruction of Supreme Court magistrate Harry Diaz, who is in charge of investigating the Cobranzas del Istmo case, the authorities raided the central offices of the company in Rio Abajo, Panama City.
Former first lady Marta Linares de Martinelli expressed her concern at the politicized use of justice and called President Juan Carlos Varela directly into question: “thousands of Panamanians depend on this company: what path does President Varela want to take the country down?”, she asked rhetorically.
The former first lady denounced the media show put together by the authorities, judging it utterly disproportionate and harmful to private business. “The authorities are behaving as if some first-rate drug trafficker was hiding in those offices”, she declared.
Mr. Sydney Sitton, who forms part of the former president's legal defense team, also judged the authorities’ action "incomprehensible and senseless".
Mr. Sitton denounced that the authorities failed to specify even what they were looking for. "They are supposedly looking for documents pertaining to the 2009 to 2014 period, and have not told us what precisely they're looking for: this is a clear violation of the fundamental rights of any person, whether natural or legal".
In a press release from the office of investigating magistrate Abel Zamorano, who is in charge of this specific case, the authorities justified the police deployment based on the size of the office complex.
The headquarters extend over three blocks in the Monte Oscuro neighbourhood, and they enjoy a high level of internal security", the release read.
Investigating magistrate Zamorano flatly rejected any accusation that this rate represented at any sort of political persecution against former president, arguing instead that he was simply following up on revelations made by businessman Cristobal Salerno. The latter has accused former President
Martinelli of receiving kickbacks from Cobranzas del Istmo in the years 2009, 2013 and 2014.
This version of events was strongly questioned by the former president's legal defense team. Mr. Sitton pointed out how neither Importadora Ricamar, nor any other company belonging to the former president, had ever refused any request for information on the part of the authorities.
He also highlighted how this case was dealt with in 2015, and how the current government of Juan Carlos Varela had made payments to Cobranzas del Istmo in spite of the fact that the company’s contract had already been suspended.
In an official press release, the management of Importadora Ricamar stated that it was party to no judicial proceedings and demanded that private business be respected. The company highlighted how in its 30 years of operations it has maintained excellent commercial and financial relations with both its banks with its local and international suppliers.
The company exhorted the Panamanian Chamber of Commerce and other business bodies is to demand that the government respect the rights of private business, and to condemn " this act of defamation and intimidation carried out by the authorities".
The context
Yesterday's dawn raid is part of a long series of actions against former President Ricardo Martinelli.
It happens coincide with the lowest approval ratings yet recorded by the government of Juan Carlos Varela. Businessman Porfirio “Bolita” Ellis, who yesterday visited the site, denounced the selective nature of the authorities’ repeated harassment.
For his part, Luis Eduardo Camacho singled out the National Security Council as being responsible for this latest action. In his twitter account, of Mr. Camacho denounced "the authorities ‘decision to persecute businesses related to the Martinelli family".