Panama’s electoral tribunal annulled the presidential candidacy of former president Ricardo Martinelli on Monday, a month after he lost his last bid to avoid prison and took asylum in the Nicaraguan embassy.
The decision, announced by the body’s president Alfredo Junca, appears to end Martinelli’s hopes of reelection in May.
Martinelli served as president from 2009 to 2014 and last year was found guilty of using stolen public money to buy a stake in a publishing house.
The 71-year-old was sentenced to almost 11 years in prison and given a $19 million fine.
Last month, he was granted asylum at the embassy of Nicaragua, just days after losing a final Supreme Court appeal against his sentence.
The Supreme Court ruling had dealt a blow to Martinelli’s hopes of reelection in May, and he blasted an “illegal last-minute move” to remove him from the presidential race.
The ruling also sealed his electoral fate: his conviction had to be final for the Electoral Tribunal to annul his candidacy.
Martinelli, who was a millionaire businessman when he became president, has been investigated for multiple corruption scandals since leaving office.
In 2021, he was acquitted on charges of espionage and embezzlement of public funds.
He faces a separate trial, scheduled for after the May 5 elections, over alleged bribery payments during his presidency from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht for public works projects in Panama.
