Panama Issues Arrest Order for Ex-President

A Panamanian judge ordered the arrest of former president Ricardo Martinelli, who has been holed up in the Nicaraguan embassy for two weeks after losing his last appeal to avoid a sentence of almost 11 years in prison for money laundering.

Judge Baloísa Marquínez "ordered the preventive detention of a former president of the Republic within the process followed by the crime against the economic order, in the so-called New Business case," the judiciary indicated in a statement.

Although the note does not mention Martinelli's name, he is the only former president convicted in this case.

Judge Marquínez also argued that there is a "risk of flight evidenced by the conduct of the convicted person," who entered the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama on February 7, where he requested political asylum, immediately granted by the government of Daniel Ortega.

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

The sentence was confirmed in October by an appeals court. The former president and owner of a supermarket chain subsequently filed multiple appeals, but lost the last one before the Supreme Court on February 2.

The next day he launched his electoral campaign, but later entered the Nicaraguan embassy. Ortega granted him asylum, alleging that he is "persecuted for political reasons and his life is at imminent risk."

However, the Panamanian government denied giving him safe passage to travel to Nicaragua. Martinelli was prohibited from leaving the country due to his judicial proceedings.

Martinelli insists on his innocence and at the Nicaraguan legation he has received visits from family and political allies.