38.3 % of   Panama   prisoners   in  “provisional” jail for over a year

38.3 % of  of Panama   prisoners   in  “provisional” jail for over a year

Almost 40% of Panama’s  prison population have spent more than a year in provisional detention, most of them in overcrowded hell holes like La Joya, without  the comforts of El Renacer  according to figures of the Penitentiary System.

AIn the prisons of the country there are 7,537 incarcerated with orders of provisional detention, of which,  6,515 that is 38.3% of the national prison population have more than a year behind bars  

” It is enough that the year of fulfillment of the precautionary measure of provisional detention for which the accused or accused requests the Court and it orders its dismissal …”, concluded the trial court of  former President Ricardo Martinelli  in the ruling which replaced the provisional detention with house arrest reports La Prensa

Selective Justice
Maribel Jaén , of the Justice and Peace Commission, said that what has happened confirms the selective justice that prevails in the country, where “economic resources and influences are required” to ensure that the law is carried out. There is no fair and equitable justice for all

Of the 16,996 people deprived of liberty in Panama, 6, 515 have been provisionally detained for more than a year38.3% of prisoners have more than one year in preventive detention. l

The number of provisionally detained persons with more than one year in prison includes the inmates who are prosecuted in the two justice systems that coexist in the country: the inquisitorial  one, in force throughout the territory until 2011, and the accusatory  which entered  into validity that year  beginning first in the provinces of Coclé and Veraguas.

Under the inquisitorial system, there are 4,798 people who have served more than one year provisionally detained, while under the other criminal model add another 1, 717 inmates in the same condition.

Relevance
 These figures take on special relevance after the ruling adopted last Wednesday by the trial court of former President Ricardo Martinelli and who replaced him with the precautionary measure of provisional detention that was imposed at the beginning of the investigations, by one of house arrest says La Prensa.

The trial court changed Martinelli’s provisional detention based on articles 12 and 237 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, invoked by the former ruler’s defense when requesting his release.

Article 12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure states: “provisional detention is subject to a reasonable time limit to prevent it from becoming an early penalty. Provisional detention may not exceed one year, except in the cases indicated in this Code. “

Meanwhile, Article 237 states in its last paragraph that ” provisional detention shall not be longer than one year, except for the case provided for in Article 504 of this Code”.

When analyzing the two articles, the court warned that “such legislation is extremely clear and does not include conditions for access to such benefit … therefore, it is enough that the year of compliance with the precautionary measure of detention is met provisional so that the accused or defendant requests it from the Court, and the Court orders its dismissal, thus losing its validity, otherwise it would become an anticipated penalty, as it is warned in the rules under examination “.

Ominous
Balbina Herrera a, victim of the wiretapping described the decision of the trial court as “ominous”

“Any person deprived of liberty provisionally, who has completed one year [behind bars] may request his release or change his measure and leave for his home … The law must be the same for everyone,” she warned.

Meanwhile, Maribel Jaén, said a member of the Justice and Peace Commission, considered that the figures of provisionally detained persons with more than one year show that “there is no equitable and expeditious justice for all.” She added that one of the “main violations” of the State to the rights of inmates has been abuse in pretrial detention.

“We see that justice is selective,” said Jaén, wadding e denouncing that “economic resources and influence are required” to ensure that the law is complied with. The majority of prisoners do not have the necessary resources to “defend their rights” and, consequently, request a change of precautionary measure before the competent authorities.

For Jaén, the issue can not be addressed without mentioning the conditions in which the inmates are in Panama. “We see that not all prisoners have the same conditions,” she said.