Terrorism complaint filed against fake apostle for earthquake forecast

A group of Panama lawyers has filed a criminal complaint against Heriberto Arracera, also known as “Apostle Amoz”,  after a video predicting a September 15 earthquake went viral on various social networks setting off alerts among users.

The “prediction”, said that on September 15 there was going to be a large-scale earthquake in Panama with great consequences, which caused an atmosphere of anguish and unease among many people who believed his words.

However, as expected, the fake apostle’s prophecy was never fulfilled.

The action, considered reckless, led a group of lawyers to file a criminal complaint for the crime against collective security in the form of terrorism.

The lawyers said that it is appropriate to file the complaint due to the reach that Arracera’s statement had through the different digital platforms and they also seek to establish a precedent.

Mental health experts affirm that in Panama there is a vulnerable population that could have suffered serious consequences and to the population that when faced with this type of message, they should not believe what they see or hear in the first instance and instead proceed to verify the source to try to keep the situation under control.