PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – Panama’s top court rejected former president and current presidential candidate Ricardo Martinelli’s appeal to annul a 10-year prison sentence, a court official said on Friday, casting doubt on Martinelli’s ability to run in the May election.
Martinelli was sentenced to a 128-month prison term last year for money laundering for his role in a case known as “New Business,” which alleges public funds were used to buy a media conglomerate and give him a majority stake.
Authorities have not issued a statement on his candidacy, but Panama’s constitution bars from the presidency anyone condemned to a prison sentence of five years or more.
Martinelli, a multimillionaire supermarket magnate, held office from 2009 to 2014.
(Reporting by Elida Moreno and Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Sarah Morland)
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