Supreme court judge facing sale of judgment and pedophilia charges

SUPREME COURT President Jose Ayu Prado, himself the target of numerous complaints before the National Assembly,   said Fr iday  the court would  be vigilant that “all fundamental procedural rights and principles are met  “in the event that the National Assembly judges his colleague Victor Benavides and “all under investigation.”

 His statement  came a day after the  Assembly Credentials Committee admitted a complaint against  Benavides for the alleged commission of crimes against public administration [unjust enrichment], against sexual freedom and integrity and others incurred.
“We are confident that the National Assembly, will take  legal action, with the professionalism that characterizes it,  and will do everything to make the process transparent and establish the presumption of innocence”

The case against the judge of the Third Administrative Chamber  comes after the company Vega & Alvarez filed a complaint  with the legislature on April 22 based on a letter from  Vicente Zamorano Caballero, former chief of Benavides bodyguards.
In the  handwritten letter, Caballero said that as  an escort for Benavides he made make deposits in different branches of the National Bank of $10,000, $15,000, and $20,000 every two to three days.
He said  that the money was proceeds from the sale of judgments of the Court and also accused him of sexual acts with minors.
José Domingo Ulloa, archbishop of Panama, also spoke about the case.
He asked the Panamanian expected to become “real research” and urged those in charge of the judicial process [in this case the National Assembly] to impart justice.
Meanwhile, organizations of civil society in bonded Citizens Alliance for Justice, in an open letter, asked the deputies, because it is an issue that “involves violations of human rights of children”, to act  with “objectivity, transparency and expeditiously, ensuring that proper safeguards are guaranteed to the people involved.”
THE PROCESS
The next step is to appoint the prosecutor in the case. On Friday, May 8, National Assembly President Adolfo Valderrama, said: ” I think may be next month,” but said he did not want to “talk about terms.”
Their calculations are based on the Credentials Committee, Parliamentary Ethics and Judicial Affairs -the last Thursday decided to open the process to Benavides must meet

Victor Leonel Benavides Pinillawas born in Santiago, Veraguas, on  May 22  1951. He came to the Supreme Court in January 2006, appointed by President Martin Torrijos.
The same day he was appointed, Torrijos appointed his colleague Harley Mitchell. On 29 December 2005, late at night, the Credentials Committee of the Assembly gave its approval to both.
It was a debate that lasted three hours and it involved 11 deputies of the ruling party and the opposition.
At the time, Benavides and Mitchell pledged to act independently to restore citizens lost confidence in the judiciary.
His performance in court has been challenged. In December 2014, it made headlines Benavides failure in which the State was ordered to pay a construction company $5.4 million for breach of a contract that was only $ 260 thousand.
Benavides and then judge of the Supreme Court Alejandro Moncada Luna  [now in jail for corruption] ordered the National Assistance Program (PAN) to disburse  the huge sum to Java Inversiones, SA, to rescind a contract that was awarded in 2003 for the repairing of a road in Nuevo San Juan, Colon, reports La Prensa.
In addition, the National Union of Construction Workers and Similar denounced a ruling that overturned a sentence of 20 years in prison for Rogelio Ramos, charged with attempted murder for the death of the worker Osvaldo Lorenzo, which on 14 August 2007, in Chilibre.
Several of his rulings have also ordered the return of people discharged from different government agencies, such as the Public Ministry.