$725,000 award said blow to freedom of expression

IN WHAT has been condemned as a “blow to the freedom of expression” five Panama journalists, the daily publications La Estrella and El Siglo, two individuals and a private company have been ordered to pay $725,000 restitution for material and moral damages to the Naves Supply Company, whose manager was Lourdes Castillo, now a director of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP).

The Thirteenth Civil Court announced the decision on Monday June 23.
Castillo filed this civil suit in 2011, after news were published relating to a direct $2.1 million contract made by the Ministry of Health to the Naves Supply company, for the collection and incineration of hazardous waste in hospitals and clinics in Panama and San Miguelito.
In the May 16 judgment, Judge Melina Robinson Oro gave a breakdown of the payment. $150,000 goes to Castillo, $500,000 to Naves Supply and $75,000 for expenses of the plaintiff’s lawyers.
The journalists sentenced are Carlos Atencio, Alexis Charris, Jean Marcel Chery, Magaly Montilla and Gerardo Berroa.
Others sentenced were Marcel Rivera, Mauro Zuñiga, the company Auramek Engineering and Geo-Media SA and SA El Nuevo Siglo, legal representatives of the daily La Estrella and El Siglo.
The journalists also face trial in the Eleventh Criminal Court.
Guido Rodriguez, director of La Estrella, said the decision is “a blow to freedom of expression,” and said he is appealing the judgment.
“The judge has granted the motion of the plaintiff without examining the evidence,” he said.
Filemon Medina, secretary general of the Panama Union of Journalists said that this ruling constitutes an “excessive and reprehensible” action from any point of view.
In his view, the administration of justice is swift in cases where professionals with a pen and those who dissent against power are involved, but that is not the case for those exposed in the media, reports La Prensa.