Police chief apologizes for violent arrest of  La Estrella journalist

The pepper-spraying and arrest of a La Estrella journalist by the National Police, while he was covering a demonstration outside of the National Assembly, has reverberated around  Panama from the presidency to the Ombudsman, and in all local media and social networks.

The president of the Editorial Group El Siglo y La Estrella (GESE), Eduardo Quirós, regretted the events that occurred on Thursday afternoon on the grounds of the  Assembly, where Juan Cajar was held when he was covering a protest against the 2021 budget.

“We should be concerned, firstly, by the inability of the Police to deal with the basically peaceful protest, secondly, in full ignorance of the journalist’s work, detains an editor of the newspaper La Estrella; and thirdly, an institution that has lied to the public to justify this situation, ” He said that the journalist Juan Cajar carried his identification card at all times, and in videos shown on social networks and some media you can hear Cajar identifying himself as a journalist of La Estrella.

He hoped and the journalist receives the apologies he deserves”, said Quirós

He said that “the director-general of the National Police has done enormous damage to the name of the country internationally and to the management of the President with a situation that could have been resolved immediately, however, it has led to a consequence that still does not stop ”.

The journalist was held at a police station for five hours and ordered to appear before a Justice of the Peace on Friday morning. The JP had a medical appointment and Cajar was ordered to return on November 2.

The director of the National Police (PN), Jorge Miranda, personally apologized on  Friday to Cajar, who said .”The only apology I can accept is that the charges against me be dropped.” Cajar, who must attend a hearing at the Justice of the Peace in Bella Vista, where he is expected to face charges of  “disturbing public order.”

The exchange took place in front of the country’s media and the Ombudsman, Eduardo Leblanc.

The Ombudsman has recommended that next Monday, when the Justice of the Peace opens, a withdrawal be made by the PN of all charges

However, Miranda said that ” there are two positions regarding the case: the one given by the PN and that of the journalist, and in view of this, the jurisdictional judge must make a decision through a hearing .”

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