Supreme Court ruling dubbed ‘legal incest’

THE SUPREME Court ruling that stopped the investigation of an alleged $125 million corruption case in its tracks has  sent shock waves through civil society  and legal circles and has been described as “legal incest”  by prominent constitutional lawyer Carlos Bolivar Pedreschi.

The ruling nullifies the core of the judicial process for alleged irregularities in the purchase of 19 radars from  Selex, a subsidiary of the scandal ridden Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica.

It also lets former controversial security minister José Raúl Mulino,   off the hook.  After the ruling the Ricardo Martinelli ally, who one resigned “irrevocably” before returning to his post.  he claimed the uling hadd cleared his name.

The ruling is a kind of foreign body that it is difficult for the Panamanian social organism to assimilate Pedreschi told La Prensa  and he  does not rule out that that the people will take to the streets.

Judge Angela Russo was the rapporteur in the case, seen as one of the most iconic investigations related to corruption in the past government.

Her ruling,  that Public  Ministry (MP) lacked  the competence to order a series of arrest warrants of Mulino  who managed the purchase of the 19 radars,  was endorsed by magistrates Hernán De León, Harry Diaz, Luis Ramón Fábrega, Oydén Ortega, Abel Zamorano, Gisela Agurto (alternate chosen by lot) and Asunción Alonso (substitute for Jose Ayú Prado).