Panama has begun the Odebrecht case trial after six postponements. This is a process concerning the biggest corruption scandal in the country's recent history, where former President Ricardo Martinelli is one of the main accused. Judge Baloisa Marquínez, who has also led other high-profile corruption cases, is in charge of this trial, which could last for months, as the file alone contains at least 2,757 volumes and over 1.3 million pages. According to the Panamanian Public Prosecutor's Office, Odebrecht «paid bribes left and right». According to the confessions of André Rabello, who directed the operations of the Brazilian construction company in the Central American country for several years, the company paid more than 80 million dollars to officials and individuals. In 2022, Judge Baloisa Marquínez concluded the preliminary hearing in which she initially called 36 accused to trial, but the start of the process was postponed on several occasions. The Martinelli brothers have already served prison time in the United States, where they confessed to participating in «bribery payments made by and under the direction of Odebrecht» for a total of 28 million dollars, stating they acted «on orders from their father». Former President Martinelli, for his part, has been in asylum in Colombia since May after more than a year in the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama, where he was sentenced to over 10 years in prison for money laundering in the 'New Business' case, concerning the purchase of a media conglomerate with public funds.
