Ex-Supreme Court judge outraged at jail sentence for his lawyer son

Oydén Ortega Durán, magistrate of the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice until March 2019, published an “open letter” to express his “outrage at the unfair sentence” that his son Oydén Ortega Collado received: five years in prison for influence peddling.

“He is paying the price of having a father who in all his public positions dared to act with courage and independence in the face of political and economic powers,” said the former magistrate Ortega.

The letter circulated Saturday, March 26, one day after Ortega Collado and Claudia Purcait, who was assistant to Judge Ortega Durán in the Criminal Court, were sentenced.

Purcait was sentenced to four years in prison, which was commuted to a payment of $5,000. The judges specified that the son and assistant of Judge Ortega received money in exchange for manipulating a ruling, in a dispute over some land in Chiriquí. The businessman who made the payments reached a collaboration agreement with the Public Ministry and gave his testimony in court.

The former magistrate was also denounced for these events, but the National Assembly – which has the power to prosecute magistrates – filed the complaint reports La Prensa.