The Worst Terrorist Attack in Panama’s History is Declared a “Complex Case”: Alas Chiricanas Case

Panama’s Superior Court for the Liquidation of Criminal Cases elevated the case concerning the bombing of the Alas Chiricanas airliner in 1994 to a “complex case.” With this decision, the Judicial Branch granted the Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office a non-extendable period of 12 months to complete the investigations into the worst terrorist attack in the country’s history, which claimed the lives of 21 people, mostly from the Jewish community. 

The main defendant in this case is Ali Zaki Hage Jalil, a Colombian-Venezuelan citizen of Palestinian origin, accused of alleged ties to the Shiite group Hezbollah. The court ruling also includes two other individuals whose identities have not yet been revealed.  Furthermore, the court rejected the Public Prosecutor’s request to keep the summary confidential, clarifying that this power is discretionary of the prosecutor’s office itself and can be applied ex officio without requiring the approval of the court.

The Profile of the Accused and the Defense Strategy

Ali Zaki Hage Jalil was captured on November 6, 2025, on Margarita Island, Venezuela, and extradited to Panama on April 20. He currently faces charges of intentional homicide and crimes against transportation and communication.  During his initial hearing, held on April 27, the detainee invoked his constitutional right to remain silent. At the same hearing, his legal counsel formally requested that the statute of limitations be applied. The lawyers argue that, since more than 20 years have passed since the incident, the maximum penalty applicable under the Penal Code in effect in 1994 has already been exceeded.

A Crime that has Remained Unsolved for Three Decades

On July 19, 1994, Alas Chiricanas Flight 901 exploded minutes after taking off from the city of Colón, bound for Panama City. There were no survivors. Subsequent investigations identified Lya Jamal, a Colombian citizen of Lebanese origin, as the suicide bomber who detonated the explosive device on board.  Although the case was closed in 2006, the Higher Discharge Prosecutor’s Office managed to reopen it in August 2019 after incorporating new evidence. Intelligence reports provided by Israeli and US agencies directly point to Hezbollah as the organization behind the planning of the attack.  This tragic event occurred just 24 hours after the car bomb attack against the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, an attack that left 85 dead and which, like the Panama case, remains unpunished.