OPINION: Panama’s sick justice system

The series of reports that we publish today is based on the findings of a citizen who, feeling violated by local justice, contacted an Israeli intelligence agency to help him document the vices of the system. Once hired, undercover agents were given the task of attracting and speaking to a Panamanian lawyer who, in order to sell his services to an alleged Russian client, showed off the tricks he knows how to use to manage, from permits to judicial decisions. The material – recordings and videos – was obtained in Spanish territory and first disclosed in that country. Once this newspaper had access to the recordings, since they were private, the question was: Do we publish?  If today our readers have access to this story and the audios that support it, it is because we conclude that freedom of expression has a dimension that entails the obligation to disseminate information of public interest and that our duty is to guarantee the community that right. That said, it only remains to be noted that these publications expose in a stark manner a wound that is still open and that threatens an entire country. Our justice system is sick – LA PRENSA -Sep. 2