OPINION: Toying with Panama justice

This week the judicial drama of the former president of the Republic Ricardo Martinelli is multiplied by three. While Plaza Ágora is trying to move forward in the case of wiretaps  in the Supreme Court of Justice the appeal was extended to the nth habeas corpus filed to free the ex-petitioner, and as if that were not enough, in the Electoral Tribunal the hearing begins of challenging his  candidacies to positions of popular election. Citizens face a high degree of uncertainty about the future of justice in Panama. Nearly five years of investigations, diligences, failed procedures, extradition and a process interrupted before the Supreme Court of Justice have elapsed. What is at stake is not the twists and turns that paralyze the Panamanian courts, but the rule of law itself. While thousands of defendants await their hearings and their right to due process, there are others whose fortunes and the tentacles of power favor them to apply their own rules, initiating and suspending almost at will the wheels of justice. There are many lessons to be learned from this situation, perhaps the main one is that achieving true justice is the priority task of this country – LA PRENSA, Apl.9