Panama's former president seeks asylum in Nicaragua amid legal challenges | Video

Panama City, Feb 8 (EFE).- Ricardo Martinelli, the former president of Panama (2009-2014) who is seeking re-election and has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison and fined more than $19 million for money laundering, is now the third former president to seek asylum in Nicaragua, under the Sandinista government of Daniel Ortega since 2007.

Claiming to be the victim of political persecution, Martinelli, 71, joins former El Salvador presidents Mauricio Funes (2009-2014) and Salvador Sánchez Cerén (2014-2019) in dodging Salvadoran prosecution. After accepting asylum, Nicaragua also granted them citizenship.

Martinelli applied for asylum at the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama, receiving swift approval from the Ortega administration. (Camera: CARLOS LEMOS).

FOOTAGE OF THE NICARAGUAN EMBASSY IN PANAMA, WHERE SUPPLIES WERE TAKEN TO THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF PANAMA, RICARDO MARTINELLI, IN PANAMA CITY, PANAMA.

Metadata

Date: 08/02/2024 12:00 (UTC)
Credit: EFE
Source: EFE
Topic: Crime, law and justice
Type: Rough cut
Duration: 235 seconds
Reference: 7001334416
Relevance: Normal