President Martinelli In Prison Awaiting Trial Insists He Must Vote From Jail
Ricardo Martinelli the previous Panama president has requested to be permitted to cast a ballot from jail in one month from now’s election, days after authorities banned him from remaining as a candidate.
The 67-year-old is in prison awaiting trial on a pile of charges subsequent to being removed from the United States a year ago where he fled in 2015 to avoid been arr.
Martinelli was put forward as a candidate for both mayor of Panama City and a national assembly seat by his Democratic Change party in decisions planned for May 5.
The election commission pronounced his candidacy illegal on the grounds that he had not lived in the constituency for at least a year prior to the vote.
In a recording broadcast with news men Martinelli complained he was “illegally deprived of my freedom and of all my rights,” and demanded to be able to vote — endorsing Romulo Roux for president.
Martinelli is accused of using state resources to spy on around 150 opponents during his time in office from 2009 to 2014. He is also being investigated for multiple corruption scandals.
Martinelli denies all charges, and says he is a victim of “political persecution”.
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