Panama City: Former President of Panama Ricardo Martinelli was released on Tuesday at the trial for alleged espionage against his opponents when he ruled between 2009 and 2014.
This is the second time the former Panama leader has been released on charges.
He was also accused of embezzling public funds to spy on his opponents when he led the country, and the prosecution accused him of confiscating more than 150 people, including politicians and journalists.
But the court ruled that proof of prosecution against Martinelli was not enough.
“Justice, finally, applied,” Martinelli, 69, said when he left the court.
“Seven years of torture.
I thank God and the Panamaian justice system.
I suffer greatly.” Carlos Herrera Moran, a lawyer for one of the victims of alleged tapping, said the decision was “outside the law and the evidence presented.” Martinelli was released on a similar charges in 2019 but it was canceled last year, forced a new trial in July.
He first tried after being extradited from the United States in 2018, where he lived for several years and avoided Panama’s justice.
Taipan supermarket billionaire rose to the presidency in 2009 after winning the election campaign where he gave a speech which condemned the country’s political corruption and political class.
He was later named after the investigation of the “Pandora Papers” of the creation of offshore companies in question to hide money in a tax havens, but denied involvement in anything that was not desirable.