INVESTIGATING JUDGE IN PANAMA ASKS FOR INTERPOL RED NOTICE ON EX-PRESIDENT MARTINELLI

The investigating judge handling some of the dozen criminal cases pending against the fugitive ex-president, Ricardo Martinelli, has asked the Foreign Ministry to request that INTERPOL issue a Red Notice against him. Such an act could result in his arrest and detention, should Martinelli seek to leave Miami, where he is currently living, for another jurisdiction.

While is it believed that Martinelli has been barred from entering Paraguay, where he set up a villa for his exile from Panama, it is feared that Martinelli may seek to establish himself in another country, from which he cannot be extradited. Some of the victims of Martinelli's crimes, especially the illegal surveillance he set up in Panama, to spy on his opponents, have complained bitterly about the extensive delays in extraditing him for prosecution, and have openly questioned the Varela government about whether Martinelli will ever see the inside of a Panama City courtroom, to answer for his crimes.