Panama's Martinelli transferred from jail to house arrest
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2018 file photo, Panama's former President President Ricardo Martinelli answers journalists questions as he raises his handcuffed hands, holding a book, while escorted by police to a hearing at the Supreme Court in Panama City. A Panamanian court has ordered on Wednesday, June 12, 2019, that former President Martinelli to be transferred from jail to house arrest. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco, File)
A Panamanian court has ordered former President Ricardo Martinelli to be transferred from jail to house arrest.
The country's judicial branch said Wednesday on Twitter that a court "orders the cessation of the provisional detention of the ex-president of the Republic for his completion of a one-year term and imposes the step of house arrest."
The order was issued after Martinelli's lawyers requested that he be freed after serving a year behind bars on charges of political espionage.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lawyer Carlos Carrillo confirmed that his client had been released.
Martinelli was extradited from Miami to Panama on June 11 of last year to face trial. Since then, the 67-year-old leader has been held at El Renancer prison and transferred to legal hearings under heavy police surveillance.