OPINION: Judges turn their  backs on justice

The Second Superior Court of Justice, through Judge José Hoo Justiniani, declared void the process of the corruption scandal of the Tonosí irrigation project, benefiting the 33 accused in this case. The cause invoked by the Court is inspired by that controversial ruling by Ángela Russo in the Finmeccanica case. Thus, again a court cancels a complex investigation followed in accordance with the rules of the mixed inquisitive system because the prosecution allegedly exceeded the term of the investigation. That cause does not exist in the Judicial CodePanamanian, as it was created by the Supreme Court in a high profile case.

In addition, it is not taken into account for the assessment of the investigation term all the time lost by the prosecution, for dilatory resources or for medical excuses that have been presented by the defense. For whatever reasons, the judges and magistrates who participate in these hoaxes insist on ignoring that due process is a two-sided currency: that of the accused, and that of society and the victims of these acts of corruption. A sad era that Panama lives in which the judges turn their backs on justice. – LA PRENSA, Sep. 7