Panama City, Jan 11 (EFE). – The Odebrecht corruption trial in Panama is scheduled to begin on Monday after being postponed six times since 2023.
“This is the seventh time this hearing has been convened, but the seventh time is the charm, as there are no more opportunities for postponement. Obviously, we will see some strategies from defense attorneys to try to postpone it further, but that is no longer possible,” Panamanian lawyer and analyst Rodrigo Noriega told EFE.
Unlike previous times, the Judiciary announced on Sunday on social media the link for the live trial, which is scheduled to begin at 9:00 am local time at the Superior Court in Panama City.
Judge Baloisa Marquínez is presiding over the case; 27 defendants are called to the stand.
Four others are to be tried by the Supreme Court of Justice after being appointed deputies of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen): former President Juan Carlos Varela (2014-2019), former Minister Jaime Ford, and Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, former President Ricardo Martinelli’s (2009-2014) sons.
The Martinelli brothers have already served time in prison in the US for this plot, where they confessed to paying 28 million dollars in bribes “under the direction of Odebrecht,” which they did “on their father’s orders.”
Former President Martinelli, who is in exile in Colombia after spending over a year in the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama, following a conviction for money laundering in another case involving the purchase of a media conglomerate with public funds, is also one of the main defendants in the Odebrecht case.
Monday’s case involves bribes in Panama by the Brazilian company Odebrecht, which paid over 80 million dollars to officials and individuals, according to the confessions of André Luiz Campos Rabello, who headed the construction company’s operations in the country.
No further delays
Noriega believes that both Judge Marquínez and the prosecutor Ruth Morcillo should proceed with the hearing with the available evidence, as there can be no further delays, although “it would have been better if Panama had received more cooperation from Brazil in recent times, but there were many obstacles,” he added.
”Of course, the defense attorneys and the great economic and political powers in Panama almost sabotaged this case, but I believe that international pressure and the persistence (…) of prosecutor Morcillo and Judge Marquínez will leave the country’s reputation intact,” Noriega said.
Olga de Obaldía, executive director of the Panamanian Chapter of Transparency International, told EFE that “the Odebrecht case hearing will finally begin as scheduled, since the established procedural deadlines have been exhausted and all the defendants have been duly notified, including the former presidents.”
Transparency International Panama hopes “that the administration of justice, both the Public Ministry and the Judiciary, will continue to operate within the legal framework and that the process can proceed normally, ensuring transparency and access to information for the public.”
”The importance of this trial, which has been postponed so many times, cannot be overstated for (…) citizens who are fed up with impunity and with resources that should serve the common good being diverted into the pockets of criminals,” Obaldía stressed. EFE
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