Threats Against Panama President Mulino on Social Media have been Inciting the Population to Commit Acts of Violence

President José Raúl Mulino acknowledged Monday, May 5, that the country is going through a “tense and sensitive” time and apologized to those who may have been offended by his past statements. Mulino: ‘If at any point I expressed myself in a way that was not liked, I apologize.’  The Superior Court of Appeals of the First Judicial District revoked the periodic notification order imposed by a judge on Juan Carlos Moreno de León, accused of justifying a crime, and ordered his preventive detention after the suspect made threats against President José Raúl Mulino on social media.  During an appeal hearing requested by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Court of Appeals judges unanimously decided to repeal the measure requiring the defendant to report twice a week and ordered his preventive detention in a penitentiary center. 

According to the judges, in this case, the defendant’s actions jeopardized the personal safety of others and determined that he was a flight risk and potentially harming others.  At the hearing, the specialized prosecutor for organized crime, Emeldo Márquez, requested preventive detention, considering the defendant a risk to society.  On April 5, Moreno de León was arrested in Aguadulce, Coclé province, after spreading threats against President Mulino on social media and inciting the population to commit acts of violence.  The arrest was made by agents from the Judicial Investigation Directorate (DIJ), who were able to identify him through his social media accounts.  The crime of glorifying a crime, regulated in Article 390 of the Penal Code, is punishable by one to three years in prison or the equivalent in fines. This article establishes that anyone who publicly incites the commission of a crime shall be punished with this penalty.