The Colombian government said on Saturday that the asylum had granted Ricardo Martinelli, a former president of Panama who had been sheltered in the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City for more than a year to avoid prison for money laundering.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia said in a statement That it had granted Mr Martinelli Asylum and arranged that he would travel to a local airport with the diplomatic car from the Nicaraguan embassy to take a flight to Colombia.
Mr Martinelli, 73, a businessman who led Panama from 2009 to 2014, said on social media At the end of Saturday he arrived in Bogotá, the Colombian capital. He said he had received asylum as a political refugee.
In 2023, Mr Martinelli was convicted of money laundering in a case in which public prosecutors said that funds were obtained from government contractors for the purchase of a publishing house 2010. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was fined $ 19 million. The Supreme Court of Panama maintained the conviction on appeal.
Mr. Martinelli said the matter was politically motivated.
Nicaragua granted Mr. Martinelli Asylum last year, and he went up in the The embassy of the country in Panama City with some furniture and his dog, Bruno. He initially said he intended to do campaign In the Panama presidential election in May 2024 of the Embassy.
Two months before the elections, Panama’s Electoral Tribunal disqualified Mr. Martinelli van Rennen because of his sentence in the Geldwit.
Martinelli’s running buddy, José Raúl Mulino, took his place on the mood and leaned heavily on his presidential legacy in the campaign. Mr. Martinelli supported him from the embassy.
Mr. Mulino won the election conveniently.
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