Judicial lifeline for ex-president knocked

THERE  WAS swift reaction to the report that Supreme Court Judge José Ayú Prado, acting as prosecutor, filed  a corruption investigation against  the man who appointed him, ex-president Ricardo Martinelli and two deputies of the party he founded and rules, Cambio Democratic (CD)

Off the hook with Martinelli in investigations related to contracts for the purchase of grains through the extinct National Assistance Program (PAN) are Sergio Chello Gálvez and Vidal García.

Ayú Prado alleged that so far they have not been able to gather “elements of conviction suitable to accredit a fact with punishable appearance. “

Attorney Gilma Camargo, from the Center for Strategic Studies, said that for a long time the justice system has not been working. “What Panamanian people have to do is look for a way to go to international forums to find ways to blame the State for the violations, and for the corruption (…) “.

Juan Carlos Araúz, former vice president of the National Bar Association, said that “the time has come for the Assembly to submit [a proposal] for the derogatory of special judgments, for the existence of rules different from those of the  common citizen which has been the model that has caused too much damage to the institutions “.

“The investigation is not a conviction, it is an opportunity to strengthen the state.  (…) I would ask the President of the Republic to leave a legacy in matters of the administration of justice: propose the elimination of special judgments. “

PRD leader Balbina Herrera warns that it seems that in this country there are two types of justice. “One for the one who has resources and another for the unfortunate one who has nothing.