OFF THE CUFF: Special Prosecutor to handle wiretap scandal.

PANAMA’S Public Ministry has appointed a special organized crime prosecutor to investigate the alleged illegal wiretaps conducted by the previous government. The post will be filled by Ricardo Muñoz, who previously served as secretary to the assistant Attorney General.

To date, prosecutors have taken statements from 44 of the 150 victims that have been identified
Gustavo Pérez and Alejandro Garúz, both former executive secretaries of the National Council of Security, have been charged and are being held in La Gran Joya Prison. There have also been five criminal complaints, with an additional two pending against former President Ricardo Martinelli, which must be investigated by the Supreme Court.
Martinelli left the country by private jet to attend a meeting of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) and to check out his immunity status. He was told that his membership does not grant him immunity and there was no evidence that he was being politically persecuted. He went on Latin American TV to press his case that he is the victim of a vendetta by President Juan Carlos Varela. Perhaps he has memories of a deal made with Varela before the 2009 election, a deal he reneged on within weeks of taking office Martinelli’s jet later left for Florida and was tracked to Canada, Ireland and Bologna, Italy, but whether he was aboard for any of the legs is another question.
Pérez, a former police chief and Garúz whose daughter is married to Martinelli’s son, both claim that their crimes do not warrant pre-trial detention.
The illegal surveillance was carried out using equipment purchased by Panama from an Israeli contractor. That equipment, which cost $13.4 has since gone missing, and an investigation into that disappearance is being carried out by the second anti-corruption prosecutor. On Wednesday February 4, Pérez was taken for a second interview about documents found in his home, containing specifications and prices from the Israeli contractor.
The investigation will include an audit of the National Security Council to determine the possible whereabouts of the equipment and the individuals who were assigned to use it, which has not yet been established. When the story first broke, both detainees claimed to have no knowledge of the equipment’s existence.
Meanwhile two members of the spy team are deemed fugitives, one having told family members that he had been threatened after Martinelli left office.
Two question now being asked by political commentators are: “Does the ex-president or his associates still have access to the sophisticated equipment to enable him to keep ahead of the investigators?” and “Is the trap closing?” With a special prosecutor at the helm we may soon have the answers