Nicaragua grants political asylum to former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli

Nicaragua said Wednesday it had granted political asylum to former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli days after Panama’s top court rejected an appeal to annul his prison sentence in a money laundering case.

Nicaragua said Wednesday it had granted political asylum to former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli days after Panama’s top court rejected an appeal to annul his prison sentence in a money laundering case. According to a diplomatic note that Nicaragua’s government sent to Panama’s foreign ministry, Martinelli requested asylum because he “considered himself persecuted for political reasons and thinks that his life, physical integrity and safety are at imminent risk.” Martinelli requested asylum from the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama City on Wednesday and will remain there until the Panamanian government grants him safe passage to go to the Nicaraguan capital Managua, Martinelli’s press team told CNN. CNN has reached out to Panama’s government for comment. Last July, Martinelli was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of more than $19.2 million after he was declared guilty, along with four other people, of money laundering in a case known as “New Business.” The case is related to a publishing group that, according to the public ministry, was purchased with funds that came from state contracts that were handled irregularly. Martinelli declared in court that he was innocent and a victim of political persecution.