Look how Martinelli and "Popi" Varela shouted insults at each other 0:47
(CNN Spanish) -
A trial court in Panama acquitted former President Ricardo Martinelli on Tuesday night, for the second time, in the case that was being followed for alleged interceptions in communications and monitoring and prosecution without judicial authorization against businessmen, politicians, leaders and journalists, among others.
The investigation began in 2014, when the Public Ministry reported on the discovery of information that allegedly revealed a violation of the privacy of some 150 people, of which 49 managed to be accredited and identified.
The court, made up of three judges, considered that it was not possible to prove that the ex-president was behind the espionage, which, according to the Public Ministry, occurred between 2012 and 2014 during Martinelli's term and through the National Security Council.
In a previous oral trial, held in 2019 for the same case, Martinelli had been declared innocent by another court, which also considered that the responsibility of the former president could not be proven.
The trial was carried out again after the order of an appeal court, which in November 2020 accepted the request of the Public Ministry and the complainants, who did not agree with the decision of not guilty.
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Ricardo Martinelli