Proposal to modify asset seizure law

A proposal to amend the judicial code  when it comes  the seizure of property arrived at the Narional Assembly  on Tuesday. July  7. It  was presented by the lawyer Ernesto Cedeño , who states that in the process of precautionary measures, the plausibility of the law and the danger of harm must be justified in documents, without the need for full proof.

The move was inspired by  recent  seizures of assets by two former Panama presidents involved in cases that have not yet been decided

The proposal says   , “that whoever asks for a seizure of assets must prove the signs of plausibility, as happens in contentious administrative jurisdiction,” It was addressed to the President of the Assembly, Marcos Castillero , deputy of the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party.

Likewise, Cedeño proposes to prohibit the seizure of property in the case of officials for acts executed in the exercise of office and members of the boards of directors of horizontal properties for acts executed in the exercise of office.

Likewise, in the case of persons who report acts of corruption, arbitrariness or violation of laws, based on the provisions of the Constitution , for the consequences of the acts specifically denounced; and for the assets and assets of the media.

According to Cedeño, there are those who will be able to pay the exorbitant bail figures that are imposed, but there are those who cannot.

“If tomorrow you do not agree with what is stated in the media, but if all the plaintiffs begin to kidnap, a media bankruptcy breaks the freedom of expression. Activists, people in demand are destroyed, ”said the lawyer.

He indicated that the issue of kidnapping of assets is a matter of concern, so there is an urgent need to act. “The tiger eats us or we do something,” he assured.

So far this month, two seizures of property have already been made public. The kidnapping of Corporación La Prensa SA (Corprensa) by  former president Ernesto Pérez Balladares , who seized  shares and bank accounts of the company that publishes La Prensa and Mi Diario, as part of a civil lawsuit he filed eight years for alleged damages.

The kidnapping, for a concurrence of up to $1.13 million, was formally decreed on June 22 by the Fifteenth Civil Judge, Lina E. Castro De León . The action was repudiated at the national and international levels.

Meanwhile, yesterday, the former Attorney General , Kenia Porcell, posted a bond of $145,000 to suspend the seizyure of her furniture by former President Ricardo Martinelli , after a court endorsed it.

In the request for changes to the Judicial Code , Cedeño asks the president of the National Assembly to transfer the note to all the legislative benches, but, to date, none of the 71 deputies has ruled on it.

The proposal should be analyzed in the Government Commission. So far, the Legislative working committees have not been formed reports La Prensa.