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Freedom of the Press and Human Rights Under Attack; Asset Seizures; Judicial Incompetence and Corruption


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Califican de intimidatoria querella de Martinelli contra forenses

Olmedo Rodríguez
30 jul 2020 - 11:42 PM

https://www.prensa.com/impresa/panorama/califican-de-intimidatoria-querella-contra-forenses/

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OPINION: Shameless Actions

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Posted 30/07/2020

Multiple criminal complaints, reckless denunciations, civil kidnappings and an intense campaign of media intimidation and defamation on social networks have become the tools to finalize battered Panamanian justice.

 A former attorney general of the Nation, two former magistrates of the Supreme Court two forensic doctors, prosecutors and other public servants in fulfillment of their duties, have been recent victims of  shameless actions.

To add more elements to this tragicomedy, it requires them to pay millions of dollars for fictitious damages to his rights. With such acts, he seeks, through intimidation, to stop being investigated, to leave him alone, as well as his inner circle. None of this would be possible without accomplices who, from the bodies in charge of imparting justice or from the private practice of the legal profession day after day, nurture such nonsense.

That complicity facilitates the most blatant impunity, condemns us to international lists and causes mistrust in the world. It is time for this country to stop being a slave to the king of corruption.- LA PRENSA, Jul.30.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-shameless-actions-1

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Panama justice for sale

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Posted 06/08/2020

As if it were just one more case in the Accusatory Criminal System, the Panamanian justice is airing a process on influence peddling to obtain favorable rulings in the Supreme Court of Justice. In a case in which supposedly there are those who pay for the judgments, and there are intermediaries, the signatory of the judgments is conspicuous by his absence. This trial promises to reveal a lot about how inconspicuous justice is done in the name of the Republic. Since the return of democracy, the cancer of corruption in the judicial system has been a constant. The statements and testimonies that arise in this process, once validated, should serve to lead a total cleaning of the Judicial Organ and the legal profession. It is unacceptable that doing "everything possible" for the client, means the destruction of institutions, and the distribution of envelopes loaded with impunity left and right. We should all be on the lookout for the bottom in this case. This must be the beginning of the end. LA PRENSA, Aug,6

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/panama-justice-for-sale

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  • Moderator_02 changed the title to Panama as a Failing (Failed?) State -- Freedom of the Press and Human Rights Under Attack Through Legal Processes; Asset Seizures as a Political Weapon; Judicial Corruption; Former President Balladares Freezes La Prensa Assets, etc.
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Justice or blatant cover-up?

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Attorney General Eduardo Ulloa

Posted 11/08/2020

How many more threats against your prosecutors and the institutional framework of justice does the Attorney General of the Nation need to act? This is the moment of greatest prominence for the Public Ministry, due to the high-profile corruption cases it investigates. While the courts of Switzerland, Spain, the United States and Guatemala advance their processes involving Panamanians allegedly linked to terrible crimes of international scope, Panamanian prosecutors and even forensic doctors are cornered with criminal complaints and millionaire civil claims, and two former magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, together with a former attorney general, are subjected to judicial attacks to cause their public humiliation and intimidate the rest of the justice operators. The Procurator questions the "media siege", which means that he resents the public scrutiny of meetings with the mighty knight. It has already pleased him with the transfer of prosecutors to the head of processes against him, but that has not been enough. The Attorney General must choose if he is on the side of justice or if he wishes to be part of a blatant cover-up.LA PRENSA, Aug 11

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/justice-or-blatant-cover-up

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OPINION: Panama a failed state

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Posted 17/08/2020

When it is the authority that sets the example, how can the rest of the officials or citizens be blamed if they imitate them? Or why waste time doing investigations - criminal or administrative - if what exists in Panama is the infallible certainty of the award?. The word investigation has become a synonym for blatant sarcasm; It is the lie they now use to calm the spirits of a fed-up society, heated because, no matter how serious or insignificant their crimes are , politicians are subjects unattainable by justice. They are free to act with impunity. We learn of the rampant nepotism when the family of the high-ranking politician begins to assert among his peers his surname, the origin of his appointment, his ancestry, his presumed right to hold jobs in the state because someone in his family belongs to the government court. The President, the Attorney General, the Ministers of State, the Comptroller, the administrators of justice, where are they? Is there really anyone concerned about the fate of this country? Nobody is accountable here. Every day the failed state we have become becomes clearer.- LA PRENSA, Aug.17

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-panama-a-failed-state

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Corruption with no brakes

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Posted 25/04/2021

Press freedom, according to a ranking by the prestigious Reporters Without Borders organization, begins to suffer the consequences of a closed and non-transparent policy when the media tries to report corruption issues. In this last measurement, freedom of the press in Panama dropped one notch, ranking 77 out of 180 countries studied. "Journalists in Panama are the target of legal proceedings when they criticize government management or cover issues related to state corruption ..."Every word is true. Journalists are harassed with judicial processes, not only to silence them about what they report but also to generate self-censorship in them and in everyone who is aware of acts of corruption. This is nothing more than government terrorism, promoted in some cases by judges who do not know or try to ignore that democracy is founded on freedom of the press, of thought, of opinion, and of expression. Without a free press, corruption will have no brakes and that is the reason why they want a submissive, obedient, and independent press. What we see in the Reporters Without Borders report will draw a smile to the enemies of democracy.- LA PRENSA, Apr. 25

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/corruption-with-no-brakes

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Journalism bodies condemn 'intolerable' remarks by Martinelli lawyer

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Ronie Ortiz

Posted 01/05/2021

On Friday, April 30, the National Council of Journalism, the Forum of Journalists of Panama, and the Panamanian Radio Broadcasting Association cataloged as "improper" and "intolerable" the statements of Martinelli defense lawyer Ronier Ortiz. The journalistic unions emphasized that these "expressions, coming from a lawyer who is, at the same time, auxiliary to justice, are not only improper but intolerable."

In the statement from the groups, it was recalled on Wednesday, April 28, in the program La Audiencia, which is broadcast on the Nex TV channel , the defense team of former President Ricardo Martinelli, particularly Ortiz, made the statements against Foco and the coverage of his client and news facts of his surroundings.

“… I want you to know, we are going to attack you. Then we don't want them to be crying, because they are crybabies, both you and those who pay them. They are cowards and crybabies. Then they talk about freedom of expression. That is not freedom of expression. That is why, Fernando [Correa], that you see in Mexico the list of those journalists, who like to be getting into things that do not interest them, how it grows every day, how they are murdered because, at the end of the road, there are people who have no tolerance” said Ortiz.

In Mexico, the unions recalled, hundreds of people die every year, including journalists, most of them victims of drug cartels and organized crime. "These issues are of interest to the entire country, including the 144 journalists who have been sacrificed with impunity in the exercise of their duty."

For this reason, Reporters Without Borders has classified Mexico as the most dangerous country without a war in the world to practice journalism.

The words of the lawyer Ortiz, when referring to Mexican colleagues: "... they like to be getting into things that do not interest them ...", clearly "justify his murder and reveal a no longer so hidden direct threat against local journalists and the exercise of freedom of expression and information in Panama ”, the groups emphasized in a statement released this Friday afternoon.

"Consequently, our organizations strongly condemn these expressions, which constitute an affront and direct threats to the exercise of journalism in Panama, Mexico or any other country," they said.

The School of Journalism of the Faculty of Social Communication of the University of Panama condemned this Friday "the unfortunate statements of Ortiz, referring to the crimes of journalists in Mexico, demonstrating joy and satisfaction for what may happen to Panamanian journalists."

Garrit Geneteau, director of the School of Journalism at the School of Communication at the University of Panama, said it is regrettable that a lawyer who is supposed to know the law makes such threatening and shameful remarks.

According to Geneteau, assassinating journalists is to silence freedom of expression and the right of peoples to information.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/journalism-bodies-condemn-intolerable-remarks-by-martinelli-lawyer

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OPINION: When a satrap oversteps the mark

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Posted 02/05/2021

The questionable expressions of the lawyer Ronier Ortiz about journalists have provoked a generalized rejection. To say that journalists are murdered for meddling in matters that do not interest them - referring to the long list of reporters who are victims of homicide in Mexico, perpetrated by organized crime - is indescribably base

We understand that a client of yours should pay you very well to defend him in and out of court, but arguing that journalists deserve to be killed reveals just how crooked his judgment is. And since what is on the surface and in the millimeter depth of his thoughts is more emotion than reason, knowing  that what you do is nothing more than incite violence against the media and journalists, even against the very medium in which he delivered his "philosophical" outbursts. His words and attitude are hateful surely infected in that rarefied environment in which he lives. What he wants is the same thing that subjects who do not believe in democracy want, who live at ease by suffocating the rights of third parties. But what he has achieved is that we become aware that our freedoms - including freedom of expression - are not a gift and must always be defended from individuals like him. – LA PRENSA, May 2

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-when-a-satrap-oversteps-the-mark

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OPINION: Justice near rock bottom

Posted 03/06/2021

It seems that justice in Panama is beginning to hit rock bottom. Officials investigating and/or judging sit idly by; They charge thousands of dollars without lifting a finger to fulfill their duties. The scandal of the National Charity Lottery (LNB) has come to nothing. The President has not taken into account the fact that he has an office in his government who should have been dismissed without much consideration after the scandals in which she and her relatives have been involved, appointed in each office of the LNB, as well as the collection of prizes in dubious draws and in alleged electoral crimes that the first electoral prosecutor has filed, because, instead of looking for the evidence that can accredit the complaints, he has closed the case because he says that there is no evidence. In other words, the complainant must also provide evidence, as in the complaints against deputies, for which suitable proof must be provided. And as if that were not enough, the trial of the Lava Jato case in Panama has been postponed for a year because a couple of lawyers were absent from the hearing. There is no doubt that we are ruled by a gang. LA PRENSA, Jun. 3

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-justice-near-rock-bottom-3

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  • Moderator_02 changed the title to Panama as a Failing (Failed?) State -- Freedom of the Press and Human Rights Under Attack Through Legal Processes; Asset Seizures as a Political Weapon; Judicial Incompetence and Corruption; Former President Balladares Freezes La Prensa Assets, etc.
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OPINION: Government  at point of no return

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Posted 10/06/2021

When just over 40% of the current presidential term has passed, the government has lost all credibility. Society is willing to believe anything - be it truth or lie - in which the corruption of its officials is presumed. Which is the reason? It is permissiveness, complacency, indifference, and lively play. The worst of all is impunity. As nothing has consequences, the credibility of the President down is almost nil. Social networks fiercely feed rumors, falsehoods, deceptions, and no one questions their legitimacy. They simply serve to deepen the perception that everything that is written against officials is true. And it is that not deep down, there are reasons to believe that this is the case. Or do they think that their radical lifestyle change goes unnoticed by people? Cars, expensive brand houses and apartments, dresses and jewelry; money as never before in the bank and, overnight, hidden or visible, direct or indirect entrepreneurs with businesses in the State, without the control authorities, even blinking. They have crossed the line, and there is no return. Gone are authority and respect. That is how simple it is. -LA PRENSA, Jun 10.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-government-at-point-of-no-return

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Impunity taking toll on Panama internationally

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Posted 13/06/2021

For more than a decade, Panama has experienced a maelstrom of scandals related to corruption and lack of transparency.

During the last 15 months, new cases have been added to that list, with the aggravation that they have occurred in the middle of an unprecedented health crisis says The Panama Chamber of Commerce, industry, and Agriculture (CCIAP) in its Sunday newsletter.

The latest events cause indignation and anger because they are playing with the population, its health, and its future. We are sailing down a dark and dangerous channel and a turn of the rudder is urgent.

We live in a democratic system; however, going to the polls every five years is not enough. For true democracy to work, there must be a real rule of law that provides security to its citizens; as well as a citizenry that in all its roles - entrepreneurs, workers, public employees, to name a few - respects the laws and is committed to values such as honesty and resilience.

As a society, we are obliged to openly condemn those who tarnish the reputations of those who act the right way. Enough of being a permissive society that does not morally punish the corrupt. They are the scum and as such must be cornered in the darkness of contempt.

The Chamber activates its Ethics Committee when a member company engages in unethical practices or has been convicted of illegal acts. In case the ruling expresses guilt, the company is expelled from the union.

We have already done it in the past and we will do it again, but this sanctioning mechanism depends, in turn, on a system of administration of justice that is bogged down and absent.

The CCIAP has affirmed on innumerable occasions - today we are putting it back on the table - that it is necessary to rescue Panamanian justice. Honest citizens feel unprotected against the cynicism of the corrupt. Impunity is taking its toll on us nationally and internationally.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/impunity-taking-toll-on-panama-internationally

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Cloudy outlook for Press freedom in Panama

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A project promoted by deputy Zulay Rodríguez, would reduce the time that the media have to publish the replies and would increase penalties for non-compliance.

Posted 03/05/2022

On the recommendation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), the General Assembly of the United Nations established in 1993 May 3 as World Press Freedom Day to highlight the situation of journalists and media around the world.

In Panama, the situation of freedom of the press is not a cause for celebration due to the permanent threat against journalists and independent media, which, in turn, are faced with information practices and policies by the State that foster opacity regarding the use of public funds and fuel impunity for acts of large-scale corruption.

Although formally in Panama there are no legal regulations on journalistic censorship, in the last decade the criminal regulations on slander and libel were used to sue dozens of journalists, editors, managers, and various media outlets for their coverage of high-profile corruption cases.

The Panamanian civil procedural system allows civil kidnapping as a precautionary measure before filing a lawsuit and even without hearing the affected party.

Likewise, the ceiling of possible compensation for "moral" damages is not regulated, and the risk of a millionaire sentence turns the Panamanian justice system into a possible executioner of freedom of expression.

Television and radio audiovisual media have an exception to the civil kidnapping rule, which guarantees them a better situation than that of their print and digital peers.

A more recent trend has been the use of family law regulations, protection of the victim or safeguards against gender violence to seek the paralysis of journalistic activities, and even as a basis for complaints of alleged crimes against social communicators.

Opacity reigns
During the start of the covid 19 pandemic, the reaction of the government of President Laurentino Cortizo was to reduce access to public information. For example, when the set of minutes of the Cabinet Council was declared confidential.

At the same time, a detailed accounting of public spending during the pandemic had been promised and this has not happened to date.

The National Assembly delayed the delivery of information on its payroll and contracts, despite requests for information and habeas data on the subject.

In turn, the Comptroller General, under Gerardo Solís, also maintained his own space of opacity in internal contracting on various issues.

Important questions from public opinion about the purchase of fans with their supposed premium price; the acquisition of a modular hospital under very particular conditions; and the trip of a delegation of officials and directors of the Social Security Fund to Mexico to learn about the operation of an inventory management system, represent some of the most critical issues that remained without an appropriate response and confirm the culture of opacity in public administration.

Litigation to censor
In recent years, it has not been only politicians and those linked to possible cases of corruption who have used obtuse laws and the Byzantine judicial system to try to silence journalism and independent media.

Other actors have used these same tools to silence journalists and civil society activists for their critical expressions against power. Thus, we have that the journalist Lineth Lynch was sentenced to pay $2 million in a civil damages claim process from a former judicial official, despite the fact that Lynch complied with all the canons and protocols of responsible journalism.

The lawyer and activist Moisés Bartlett has to face the seizure of his assets, accounts and his law firm for questioning the actions of the State and private interests regarding a concession for the generation of electricity based on liquefied gas.

Community activist Max Crow faced sequestration of his assets when he acted as a representative of Albrook residents to oppose a commercial activity in a residential area that violated the established zoning for that area.

Environmental activist Larissa Duarte, a resident near the Cobre River in Veraguas, was sued for $10 million by a hydroelectric company that was unable to develop its project on the river.

Journalist Ligia Arreaga, from the Darien radio station Voz sin Fronteras, well known for her denunciations of illegal logging and the irregular drainage of Laguna Matusagaratí, was forced to leave the country because some of the people who felt affected by these complaints filed lawsuits for slander and libel against her.

Death threat
In addition to these cases, the death threat to journalist Flor Mizrachi for her report on clandestine vaccination in Coco del Mar must be recorded.

Despite the fact that Panama has Law 26 of June 29, 2005, which serves as the legal framework for the right to reply, Deputy Zulay Rodríguez presented Bill 242, which seeks to reduce the period that the media have to publish the replies and increases the penalties for non-compliance with the obligation.

The bill ignores the reality of the media and their internal processes in the necessary review of all those submitted and the obligation that any party affected by a reply can respond.

The risk of project 242 is that it serves as a vehicle for other issues of freedom of expression to be biased within the National Assembly, as other deputies have previously expressed their intention to modify the law of transparency and access to information.

The deputies Zulay Rodríguez and Benicio Robinson, both from the ruling party, maintain legal actions against journalists and media outlets that have exposed issues that involve them to the public light and that instead of making all the clarifications to public opinion and their electorate, have taken the judicial route.

Panama is entering the initial phase of the electoral process for the year 2024. In turn, important cases of corruption are aired in the Judicial Branch, as well as in prosecutors and courts of other countries. The factor that these events have in common is the sensitivity of their protagonists to the exercise of free and independent journalism.

Unfortunately, it is to be expected that as the stages of the electoral process progress and the processing of corruption cases intensifies, the pressure on journalists, the media, community activists and human rights defenders will also intensify.

If the free press gives in or if journalists censor themselves for fear of reprisals, Panama will be doomed to an age of obscurantism, opacity and, above all, censorship and manipulation of information. - RODRIGO NORIEGA, La Prensa.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/cloudy-outlook-for-press-freedom-in-panama

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La Prensa to appeal $500,000 award to Roberto Duran

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Posted 10/01/2023

No one has the right to use, without their consent, the image of another person to recommend that they go to eat in this or that restaurant, buy a product, use a service or visit a certain hotel. For example, if you sell sports equipment, you could not use the image of New York Yankees star player Aaron Judge in an ad saying that Judge recommends his store because they sell the best bats and handles there. To do this, you would have to have express authorization because you would be using the image of a famous athlete who recommends a product that you sell. But if you, as the owner of the store, decide to advertise in the sports segment of a television channel or in the sports section of a newspaper and your ad appears next to a news story or report on Judge, there is no conflict, nor abuse of the use of the image. The athlete's image is used to illustrate journalistic content, which can be biographical or news, and advertising appears in the spaces designated for it. At no time is it inferred or interpreted that the athlete is recommending or endorsing the advertiser in any way.

One only has to replace Judge with Roberto "Mano de Piedra" Durán to understand that the sentence against Corporación La Prensa (Corprensa) is nonsense and, worse still, establishes a disastrous precedent against freedom of expression and of the press and against the right to access to information. Consider for a moment the logical consequence that any public figure could now claim damages and lost profits when a media outlet or a citizen uses his image to speak about matters of public interest. Tomorrow, the President of the Republic could sue this newspaper or another media outlet on the grounds that his image is being used to sell newspapers and the advertisers who were on that page, print or on the web, benefited from the image. of the president. This would end the freedom of the press and of expression.

Mano de Piedra is a globally recognized athlete, he is a public figure, with numerous, wide, diverse, extensive reports, news, interviews, and books, published about him, his sports career, and even his successes and failures in other aspects of his life. As such, anyone has the right to write about Durán, with or without his authorization, even if it were a question of writing a biographical book that did not have the boxer's authorization. In the United States there is a multiplicity of cases referring to "unauthorized biographies" of famous people, from politicians and businessmen to artists and athletes. Many of their authors have suffered lawsuits, and the usual thing is that the courts defend the right of the author to write them, publish them, and earn money from the sale of the works.

Readers will remember Noriega's lawsuit against video game producer Activision for his unauthorized appearance in the game Call of Duty: Black Ops II . The lawsuit was dismissed for being considered a public figure. A similar result was obtained by the lawyers Mossak and Fonseca in their lawsuit against Netflix as a result of the feature film The Laundromat. I mention these cases because they are Panamanian figures. Although the cases are not the same, they are third parties profiting in some way from the use of the image or story of people who did not authorize it for such use. The reason is that US jurisprudence has regularly and strongly established the right of citizens in these cases to “fictionalize” historical figures and to deal with issues of public interest in any of the arts.

If La Prensa had published an advertisement with the image of Mano de Piedra without his authorization saying: "Read La Prensa, the best newspaper in Panama"; or if Super Xtra had made an ad with the image of Mano de Piedra, without his authorization, saying: "Buy at Super Xtra where prices are knocked out", then it could speak of use and abuse of his image for profit. However, this was not the case. La Prensa, by journalist Guido Bilbao, published a 30-page collectible biography of Roberto “Mano de Piedra” (Hands of Stone) Durán, based on publicly available material, including his “authorized” biographical book. In a certain sense, it can even be said that La Prensa promoted the figure of the athlete for free, particularly for younger readers who did not experience his achievements. The biography was inserted at no additional cost in the printed newspaper for one month, and in spaces designated for such, there could be advertising from one or more advertisers. Curiously, several years ago Mano de Piedra appeared on the cover of K Magazine, and despite the fact that Durán did not receive any emolument for having used his image, no claims were received despite the fact that the magazine was usually sold in different stores. of the locality and was inserted without additional cost to the subscribers.

We are then facing an exaggerated demand ($5 million in damages was requested), unfounded (biographical content about a public person) and intimidating (using it as a mechanism to generate self-censorship). The $500,000 sentence, although 10 times less than what was claimed, is completely disproportionate to the cost of the product (about $70,000) and Super Xtra's ad revenue of only $20,000. In addition, Corprensa was able to demonstrate that there was no increase in newspaper sales during the period in which the biographical pages were inserted.

It is for all of the above, and being consistent with the democratic principles that our organization has defended for the last 42 years, that we have made the decision to instruct our lawyers to appeal the judge's ruling before the Supreme Court of Justice, in cassation.

In Leviticus there is a maxim that every judge should have on his or her desk: "You shall judge your neighbor with justice, not letting yourself be carried away by the gifts of the rich or by the tears of the poor", to which should be added "nor by the popularity of the famous.

The author is president of Corprensa.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/la-prensa-to-appeal-500000-award-to-roberto-duran

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Martinelli's team strikes back at critics

Posted 08/02/2023

 Lawyers for Ricardo Martinelli, accompanied by bailiffs from the Sixth Civil Court, arrived Wednesday at the residences of Annette Planells and the children of Mauricio Valenzuela, from the Foco Panama digital portal, to seize assets, as part of processes filed by the former president for alleged slander and libel reports  La Prensa.

The procedure at Planells' house, in a building in Altos del Golf, could not be carried out. But in the home of the Valenzuela children, in Pueblo Nuevo, the officials took several belongings, televisions, and even cushions. The communicator does not reside in that house.

Daniel Flores Planells, son of Annette Planells, received the court officials and Martinelli's lawyers. He explained to them that they could not enter the property, since it is in the name of a corporation and, therefore, the property is not sequesterable. The bailiff insisted that the plaintiff had posted a bond to carry out the kidnapping.

Although Valenzuela does not reside in Pueblo Nuevo, the procedure was carried out at the residence of his minor children.

"This procedure is a judicial kidnapping that has been done to Mr. Valenzuela, as a result of damages to Mr. Ricardo Martinelli for everything that he, without proof, always argues and talks about him," said Jéssica Canto, one of the lawyers. Martinelli, who was present at the Pueblo Nuevo stage, along with Shirley Castañeda and Luis Eduardo Camacho, another lawyer, and spokesperson, respectively, for the former president. Canto said that Camacho was present at the scene as an "expert."

Castañeda confirmed that the "kidnapping" is part of the civil lawsuit for slander and libel that Martinelli filed. She added that the lawsuit is not motivated by any specific publication, but by "many... because of that constant deceit on the part of Annette Planells, Digital Media, and Mauricio Valenzuela."

“It is about several errors. This is the first... It also involves Digital Media, which is the owner of Foco... The mess is over! They have to be very clear about it,” Camacho warned.

The three (Camacho, Canto, and Castañeda) were also in the Altos del Golf building, where Daniel Flores attended them.

While the former mayor of the capital, José Isabel Blandón, maintains that it cannot be accepted that Panama becomes a country where the economic power of a person can silence the voice of the media.

"If today, who does not hold public office, thus violates freedom of expression, imagine it with the power of the Executive," added Blandón.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/martinelli039s-team-strikes-back-at-critics-1

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US Embassy condemns Martinelli attacks on media

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Posted 09/02/2023

The United States embassy in Panama has expressed its concern about attacks against the media in Panama.

 24 hours after lawyers for former President Ricardo Martinelli (2009 - 2014) tried to kidnap the properties of directors of the digital media outlet Foco  the embassy posted on its  Twitter and Instagram  accounts:

“ We view with concern the attacks against the media in Panama, part of an alarming trend. When the law is used to intimidate the media, citizens are deprived of their right to be informed. The freedom of the press is essential for a prosperous democracy,

On Wednesday, February 8, lawyers representing former President Ricardo Martinelli tried to seize the assets of  Annette Planells and  Mauricio Valenzuela  in the middle of a civil process that is in the hands of the  Sixth Civil Court.

However, the kidnapping was unsuccessful since, according to Planells, they tried to kidnap property that did not belong to her and, in the case of  Mauricio Valenzuela, they arrived at a residence where he has not resided for 5 years.

" They violated the law because they entered an apartment that is not my property and since we had a good lawyer they could not enter (...) They violated the law by entering private property without having proof of that property," Planells said in statements to  TVN News.

While Valenzuela said that they will act " legally against everyone for raiding a property of people who are unrelated to the process ."

“ An official violating all processes entered a residence where I lived 5 years ago. My underage children were there (…) What happened today was corrupt officials who moved the law in their favor, ”said Valenzuela, who also reported that they will continue to question former the former president.

Martinelli was detained in a US prison before being extradited to Panama to face trial in the case of illegal wiretapping during his administration is being targeted by high US authorities.

On January 26 when he went to receive his sons Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares who had been deported from the United States, after serving their sentence for laundering money from bribes paid by the construction company Odebrecht, that he received the news that the State Department designated him as a person who " has engaged in acts of significant corruption ."

The highest-ranking official within President  Joe Biden's administration, also asserted that: " Specifically, Martinelli accepted bribes in exchange for improperly awarding government contracts during his tenure as President. These section 7031(c) designations make Martinelli and to members of his immediate family, ineligible to enter the United States ."

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/us-embassy-condemns-martinelli-attacks-on-media

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  • Moderator_03 changed the title to Panama as a Failing State -- Freedom of the Press and Human Rights Under Attack; Asset Seizures; Judicial Incompetence and Corruption
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Business leaders join outcry over fine on La Prensa

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Posted 26/04/2023

Panama's Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture was among the first to condemn the $5,000 fine imposed on La Prensa by the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (Antai).

"Fining the media with absurd arguments distances it from that purpose, and creates a serious precedent in terms of freedom of expression information," said the union, chaired by Marcela Galindo. 

Social media was flooded with similar comments and photographs of Robinson while the National Journalism Council, the Journalism Forum, the Panamanian Broadcasting Association, and the Chiriquí Journalists Association, stated that Antai's decision violates freedom of expression and information, violating the fundamental rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognized and guaranteed both in the Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama and in the American Convention on Human Rights and in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

They added that in the face of the controversy between private interest and public interest, doctrine and international jurisprudence repeatedly point out that the right of all to be informed must prevail. They recalled that Article 43 of the Constitution enshrines the right of all citizens to have access to public information contained in "...databases or records maintained by public servants...

They asked Antai to "reverse promptly" the action that violates the right of access to public information, and that constitutes an affront to freedom of expression in Panama.

According to a resolution of the Antai, La Prensa had to request permission from Robinson to use his photo, since it is "sensitive" biometric data and its misuse can put at "grave risk” the owner of the image (Robinson)."

In a statement, Conape expressed its concern about the sanction imposed by this institution on a media outlet.

It said that the measure adopted by Antai violates the exercise of ethical and responsible journalism.

"It is not the first time that Antai, an institution that must guarantee government transparency, sanctions media and journalists for the use of data that is of public interest, violating the inalienable right to information that Panamanian society has," added the union.

The fine followed a journalistic note about businesses with transportation and the quotas granted by the Transit and Land Transportation Authority (ATTT). 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/business-leaders-join-outcry-over-fine-on-la-prensa

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Journalists, businessmen and civil society denounce Antai fine

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Posted 27/04/2023

"It cannot be possible that one's image is being used only [to] want to harm.” This was how Benicio Robinson, deputy, and president of the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), reacted to the decision of the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (Antai) to fine La Prensa for using a photograph of him, without his permission, to illustrate a journalistic note that reports their businesses related to public transport concessionaires.

Antai,  sanctioned Corprensa on March 24,  alleging that Robinson's photograph is "sensitive" biometric data and the misuse of It can put the owner of the image at “serious risk”.

“It wasn't me who brought that up. That is from over a month ago,” Robinson said of Antai's decision.

His statements were Tuesday, April 25, when he was approached by the Communication and Transportation Commission of the National Assembly, where a bill was being discussed that obliges digital transportation platforms to belong to a selective public transportation provider.

What was Robinson doing there if he is not a member of this commission? 

"I am a carrier... I am a provider of the transportation service," snapped Robinson, when asked by TVN.

His facet as a carrier was precisely the content of the note entitled "Route of the quotas reaches the deputy Benicio Robinson", published on February 24, 2022 by La Prensa, object of the Antai sanction. All the information used by the journalist Mary Triny Zea to write the report was provided by public entities, as stated in Law 6 of 2002, on transparency and access to public information.

Robinson has chaired the influential Budget Committee of the National Assembly for years, told TVN that before being a representative he was a transporter and is still in business. He recalled that he has interests in the transportation services of Panama-Changuinola, Chiriquí Grande, and Bocas del Toro.

All this despite the fact that the Constitution states that the deputies may not make contracts by themselves or by intermediaries with State bodies or with institutions or companies linked to it.

Robinson also expressed his annoyance that his relatives were mentioned in the journalistic note from La Prensa. This is so, because the note reports on the activities of the company Transporte y Turismo Teribe, SA, in which Robinson appears as treasurer, has several of his relatives on the board: his wife Mirza Gutiérrez and his children Benicio Robinson Jr. . and Mirbenis Robinson.

But in the transportation business, not everyone is happy with Robinson. The drivers of digital platforms called a press conference this Wednesday to denounce that the project approved in the Assembly only seeks to benefit "the Robinson group" and the rest of the public transport quota concessionaires.

Omar Jaénsaid that the owners of quotas and transport concessionaires sent "General Benicio" to the Assembly to impose the law in favor of those who have always dominated public transport in Panama and against some 8,000 drivers of digital platforms.

The Uber platform, a US capital company, also expressed its concern that Bill 985 tries to stop all that has been advanced in innovation and technology in favor of better user service. Uber has operated in Panama for the last nine years. In a meeting with the US embassy in Panama, the company reported that it has 7,000 affiliated drivers and has provided the service to some 279,000 passengers.

Various journalistic, business associations, and civil society organizations expressed their repudiation of Antai's decision.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/journalists-businessmen-and-civil-society-denounce-antai-fine

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Electoral Tribunal’s Dirty Tricks Ruling appealed

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Posted 07/10/2023

Journalist Álvaro Alvarado announced  Saturday, September 7, that he will demand a reconsideration from the Electoral Tribunal (TE) after the National Directorate of Electoral Organization ordered him and the digital media Focus and Clearly to suspend publications of images or videos on social networks of Ricardo Martinelli .

A  statement from   Alvarado said: “I make my publications based on real facts” and not on “electoral propaganda, dirty campaigns, manipulated content and much less false content.”

He assured that the resolution issued by the TE violates freedom of expression. “Corruption thrives in darkness and silence, and can only be exposed and eradicated with a free flow of information and the active participation of civil society,” added the communicator.

The decision of the TE to order the suspension of information about Martinelli, current presidential candidate of Realizing Goals, arises in response to two complaints filed on September 15 by the former president, in which he alleges that he is the object of a “dirty campaign,” which seeks to attack and disqualify him, “with the purpose of affecting him in voting intention surveys.”

The complaints were admitted in resolutions signed by Osman Valdés, national director of the ElectoralOrganization, on September 19. The TE disclosed the content of both on Friday, October 6.

The TE reported that Alvarado and the representatives of Foco and Clearly must go to the offices to present their defenses. However, Valdés ordered several measures from now on: he asked the TE Digital Monitoring and Study Center to verify any account or network that is sharing the content of Alvarado, Foco or Clearly. 

“We believe in freedom of expression as a fundamental pillar of democracy and we will continue to exercise it regardless of the consequences,” said Daniel Lopera, a member of Foco.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/electoral-tribunals-dirty-tricks-ruling-appealed-1

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