Jailed Dutch journalist may be released

JAILED DUTCH journalist, Okke Ornstein,  renowned for his free wheeling comments on  individuals in Panama is on a list a  of 412 prisoners who are eligible for parole and penalty reduction.

The list  was published Tuesday, Dec 16 by The Ministry of Government .

Ornstein, who describes himself as an award winning journalist, is serving a sentence handed down in 2012 for the crime of defamation, and is facing a similar charge.

He  has been detained since November 15,  says his lawyer Manuel Succari.

Ornstein was convicted of defamation on Dec. 14, 2012 and received a 20-month jail sentence after Canadian Monte Friesner charged him with a statement in which he accused Friesner of being involved in murky business practices in Panama.

At the beginning of December, José Ugaz, president of Transparency International (TI), said in his inaugural address to the 17th Anti-Corruption Conference in Panama that Ornstein should be “immediately released and exonerated.”

The government has reiterated that the Dutchman was imprisoned for a conviction in a legal proceeding that “complied with the rules of due process … and at all times he had legal representation for his defense.”

Ornstein is also facing another sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment for a lawsuit filed in 2015 by Dutchman Patrick Visser, who also accused him of defamation.