FILE PHOTO: Panama's former President Ricardo Martinelli addresses the media, accompanied by his lawyer Shirley Castaneda, after filing a complaint with the General Secretariat of the National Assembly to investigate Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo and Vice President Jose Gabriel Carrizo in Panama City, Panama, February 6, 2024. REUTERS/Aris Martinez/File Photo
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panamanian ex-President Ricardo Martinelli and his team have appealed an electoral court's decision finding him ineligible to run in this year's presidential elections, Martinelli's lawyer told Reuters on Thursday.
The court declared him ineligible earlier this week, citing his inability to run due to a nearly 11-year prison sentence for money laundering.
Martinelli, a 71-year-old supermarket tycoon who governed between 2009 and 2014, has denied wrongdoing and said his sentence is political prosecution.
The former leader has been staying in the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City since February after requesting asylum in the Central American nation.
Written statements in support for Martinelli can be submitted until Friday, said Alma Cortes, Martinelli's lawyer. The aim of the appeal is to eventually bring the case before international legal bodies, she said.
"We are waiting for the respective evaluations and considerations, although we already know that they are not going to change that decision," Cortes said of the electoral court.
(Reporting by Elida Moreno; editing by Cassandra Garrison)
