Government threats, intimidation of Panama media – report

MEDIA in Panama suffer from constant threats and intimidation by the government of President Ricardo Martinelli says a report on press freedom to the annual meeting the InterAmerica Press Society (SIP)  in Barbados.

The Panama delegation said that La Prensa and Mi Diario have been especially affected

Eduardo Quirós, director of La Estrella, stressed to the SIP that in Panama there is "hostility by some authorities toward the exercise of journalism, which manifests itself in discrimination toward the media and access to information."
Quiros recalled that Martinelli and state ministers constantly refer to different media as being aligned with the opposition.
He added that this situation leads to risks in the exercise of journalism. He said that the government has also used the legal system to put pressure on the media.