$400,000 payout for police murder of visiting kids
THE FAMILY of two children, gunned down by a police officer during a visit to relatives in Panama will receive $400,000 from the Panamanian State says a Supreme Court ruling.
The children, a boy aged two and a 15-year-old girl of Indian nationality, died after receiving multiple bullet wounds at a checkpoint in San Carlos on October 23, 2013.
The police lieutenant who fired the shots was sentenced in January this year to 30 years in jail for murder.
According to a ruling of the Third Administrative Disputes Chamber of the Supreme Court by judges Abel Zamorano and Cecilio Cedalise, the State was sentenced to pay $200,000 for each victim.
In addition to the compensation, the director of the National Police (PN) Omar Pinzón, must offer public apologies to the Indian community in Panama and to the loved ones of both infants.
The Court said that the agents in charge of a checkpoint, in the entrance to San Carlos, violated protocol on the day of the events.
In its investigations, the Public Ministry (MP) determined that the death of the two children was caused by gunfire from lieutenant Alexander Rosales.
