STILL NO HABEUS CORPUS FILING BY RICARDO MARTINELLI

Donald Trump and Ricardo Martinelli

More than two weeks after a Federal magistrate judge in Miami ordered his extradition, to face massive criminal charges in his native Panama Ricardo Martinelli's defense team has not yet filed the Habeus Corpus proceeding that they stated would be filed on his behalf, to contest the decision. Given that Martinelli, the former president of the Republic of Panama, could be shipped out at any time, their failure to act is puzzling. he faces more than a dozen corruption charges, including Insider Trading, plus the illegal surveillance case, which is the specific subject of his extradition.

Martinelli remains in custody in the downtown Federal Detention Center, as his efforts to bond out were met with failure. Some Panama sources claim that he intended to flee the United States for the "safety" of the Dominican Republic, should he have succeeded in obtaining release on bond. The Dom Rep is home to a number of fugitives from justice, wanted by Panama, and who have, bluntly, bought their freedom from extradition, through payoffs.

The final order to extradite Martinelli must come from the US Secretary of State, and Panamanians sincerely involved in reforming their country are anxiously awaiting his decision, as he is the poster child for the corruption, and financial crime, that Panama wants to relegate to history, as it moves forward towards true reform.