Supreme Court suspends Attorney General

Panama’s first woman  Attorney General Ana Matilde Gomez has been suspended from office by the Supreme Court .
The decision was backed by five of the nine judges of the Court, at the request of the Office of Administration.

One of the judges who voted for he suspension was previously on her staff and left after problems. involving a case he was in charge of.

Since last September, Gomez, who is not allowed to leave the country, has been nvestigating a complaint by the former prosecutor of La Chorrera Arquimedes Saez.

Gomez is accused of abuse of authority and other crimes by Saez who is currently before the courts on charges of corruption while working under Gomez.

The Attorney Generaappointed an assistant prosecutor of the Republic, to replace her while her case proceeds, but this was later nullified by the Government which says it will name its own replacement.

Gómez’s suspension was based on a complaint filed by former prosecutor Archímedes Saez that claimed the attorney general ordered the illegal taping of telephone calls he made while in office.

The tapes were made to provide evidence that the prosecutor was demanding bribes from defendants in criminal trials.
The judges who voted in favor of suspending Gómez were rookie judge Jose Abel Almengor who was previously in the Attorney General’s office, Wilfredo Sáenz, Alexander Moncada Luna, Winston Spadafora and Hannibal Salas, president of the Court.
Harley Mitchell, Jerome Mejía, Oydén Ortega and Victor Benavides voted against the suspension.