Jailed ex-police chief claims Nazi style torture

THE FORMER  director of Panama’s National Police Gustavo Pérez, who has begun a five years prison term for having  an illegal collection  of weapons at his  home claims to be a victim of abuse in prison including psychological torture.

In a letter quoted in Panama America, Perez compares his incarceration in La Gran Joya prison to the “psychological torture from an old manual of Nazi times “.

Claiming his innocence, Pérez, who is also awaiting  trial   on charges of illegal wiretapping  which  could carry a much longer sentence,  proclaimed his innocence and said:  “My best judges are my actions and those who were with me sharing a job to protect and serve Panama. “

The charges in the wiretapping scandal, during his time on the Security Council,  also involve the disappearance of over $14 million of surveillance equipment purchased from Israel.

Also awaiting trial in the scandal are former Security Council member  Alejandro Garuz, who is detained in El Renacer prison, and ex-president Ricardo Martinelli who fled  Panama on January 28.

Perez and Garuz were held in La Gran Joya, before being moved to El Renacer. At that time Perez claimed he was suffering from claustrophobia