The quadrille involving the three magistrates of the Electoral Tribunal and the judge in the New Business case drags on with the latest step a letter to the judge asking if Ricardo  Martinelli’s conviction is already “final and enforceable to date”, to proceed with the disqualification of the still presidential candidate.

This is stated in a note that Rubén González, director of Legal Advice of the TE, sent to Baloisa Marquínez, head of the Second Liquidation Court for Criminal Cases.

The Constitution prevents a person from competing for the position of President of the Republic if they have a sentence of five years or more in prison. Martinelli's sentence is 10 years and eight months for laundering public funds that were used to acquire the shares of Editora Panamá América, SA (Epasa) , in December 2010.

The TE note was received in Judge Marquínez's office on February 22, at 3:20 pm That same day, but earlier, a group of lawyers (unrelated to the process), headed by Neftalí Jaén, brought to the TE a copy of the conviction of July 17, 2023, in which Marquínez handed down the sentence for money laundering against Martinelli and four other defendants. That sentence was confirmed last October by the Criminal Cases Settlement Court.

“ We very respectfully request that you tell us whether the information provided by Mr. Jaén is true, if so, we request that you send us the certification of execution of the sentence cited above. Otherwise, please inform us of the procedural path corresponding to the file so that the sentence in question can become final and become res judicata,” states the TE note.

Arrest order
On February 22, Marquínez ordered the arrest of Martinelli, given the risk of flight. The arrest was requested (separately) by the prosecutors in the New Business and Odebrecht cases, Emeldo Márquez and Ruth Morcillo, respectively. Márquez fears that Martinelli will escape and not serve his New Business sentence; Morcillo wants to ensure that Martinelli is present at the Odebrecht bribery trial, which will be held in December.

New Business is already res judicata after the Criminal Chamber of the Court rejected the requests for “clarification” presented by the lawyers of Martinelli and the other four convicts ( Daniel Ochy, Janeth Vásquez, Iván Arrocha and Valentín Martínez Vásquez ), against a previous decision of that same instance not to admit appeals against the conviction.