A court in Panama has sentenced former President Ricardo Martinelli to more than 10 years in prison for money laundering.

According to a report published by Voice of America, the country’s attorney general’s office revealed this on Tuesday.

The office also disclosed that Mr Martinelli’s case, dubbed “new business,” began in 2017 when the office received information that the former president was implicated in financial crimes related to purchasing a news outlet.

The former president’s defence will appeal the sentence and exhaust all the legal options available, Mr Martinelli’s lawyer Carlos Carrillo said in a news conference.

“Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal’s candidacy is solid,” Mr Carrillo said, noting he is still eligible to run for the presidency since there is time to challenge the sentence.

According to the report, the court also imposed a $19.2 million fine on Mr Martinelli.

Mr Martinelli became the first official candidate for Panama’s 2024 presidential election last month after he was elected by the party Realizando Metas, a group he founded two years ago.

The former president’s spokesperson Luis Camacho said his team would analyse what he called a legal attack on Mr Martinelli.