Former Panama president Martinelli leaves Nicaraguan embassy for asylum in Colombia

Panama City, Panama
AP
 — 

Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli left the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City, where he had sought refuge more than a year ago after the courts upheld a money laundering sentence against him, and headed to Colombia where he has received political asylum, the government said late Saturday.

Panama’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Colombian President Gustavo Petro sent Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino a formal note saying that he had granted Martinelli asylum and that Panama had granted the former president safe passage to Colombia.

“The Republic of Colombia is a State that has historically recognized with the…