“At the request of the International Affairs Unit of the Public Ministry, the Fifth Criminal Court has notified that the formal extradition of Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares has been authorized,” the Public Ministry published on Twitter.
Luis Enrique, 39, alleged “possible involvement in charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering involving specific illegal activity”.
He has been in prison since July 6 last year in Guatemala with his brother, 41-year-old Ricardo Alberto, both wanted by US justice, who accuses him of money laundering related to the Odebrecht case.
Ricardo Alberto had his extradition suspended due to the fact that his case is the responsibility of another court, which is required to resolve the “appeal”, a source in the AFP Public Ministry explained.
The Martinelli brothers were arrested at the international airport in Guatemala City after they attempted to board a private humanitarian flight to their country due to the Kovid-19 epidemic.
The United States Department of Justice said at the time that “two juices have participated” in the plan by Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, which “paid more than $ 700 million in bribes to Panamanian government officials”.
A few days after his arrest, the Central American Parliament, a regional integration body based in Guatemala, did not allow the Martinelli brothers to be sworn in as deputies, after suspecting that they tried to take advantage of parliamentary immunity to prevent extradition Was doing.
“Without initiating a hearing to discuss the matter, the Guatemalan court justified the extradition of my son Luis Enrique Martinelli. These violations occur because the Foreign Ministry of Panama does not fulfill the obligation imposed on it by Article 17 of the Constitution Has been doing. [que fala da proteo de seus cidados]”, Former President Martinelli wrote on Twitter this Tuesday.
The former lawyer also faces charges of involvement in the Odebrecht corruption network, among other complaints.
Martinelli Sr. was extradited from Panama to the United States in June 2018 to face charges of an illegal wiretapping case during his government.
At independence, he registered a new political party and expressed his intention to run for president in 2024.
