Nicaragua Grants Asylum to Martinelli

Nicaragua granted asylum to former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli, days after he lost the last appeal to annul a sentence of almost 11 years in prison for money laundering.

Martinelli "requested asylum at the Embassy of the Republic of Nicaragua in Panama, because he considered himself persecuted for political reasons and found himself at risk," says a note sent by the Managua Foreign Ministry to Panama, which adds that the government of President Daniel Ortega decided to grant him asylum.

The note, read in Managua to the press by the vice president and wife of Ortega, Rosario Murillo, asks the Panamanian authorities "to provide assurances for the prompt departure and humanitarian transfer of Asylum Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal to the Territory of the Republic of Nicaragua."

The former right-wing president had started his campaign for the presidential elections on May 5 on Saturday, a day after the Supreme Court published the ruling that rejected his last judicial appeal to annul his prison sentence.

Managua has granted asylum to other former Central American presidents and senior officials who face problems with the justice system, including former leftist Salvadoran leaders Mauricio Funes and Salvador Sánchez Cerén.

Martinelli, 71, was sentenced last July to 128 months in prison and fined $19 million for money laundering.

The first instance ruling was ratified in October by an appeals court, after which Martinelli filed a final appeal to try to overturn the sentence.

Since then, the former president and owner of a supermarket chain presented successive appeals for protection, in an apparent attempt to delay the final ruling of the Supreme Court until after the elections, but all were rejected.

Despite his legal troubles, Martinelli is so far very popular in Panama, according to polls.