Transparency concerns as judges maneuver

Transparency International and the Panama Episcopal  Council have both expressed concerns about the latest move by the battery of defense lawyers to get the illegal spying  case  of former president  Ricardo Martinelli out of the hands  of the Supreme Court (CSJ)

The Foundation for the Development of Citizen Liberty (The Panamanian chapter of Transparency International)  has appealed to the magistrates of the Court  to act with “impartiality, independence and probity” when deciding on a appeal for the defense, which seeks to take away the competence of the court in the case  for supposedly spying on at least 150 people.

“Fail in favor of what was argued by the defense of  the former president, would be against the  common meaning of the law but, above all, it would be against justice and

would destroy the little confidence that citizens already have regarding the institutional framework of the Supreme Court of Justice, “the foundation said in a statement.

The Panamanian Episcopal Conference considered that “It is urgent that the justice system consolidate its impartiality, their opportunity to judge and their legitimate autonomy “.

If the Supreme Court of Justice declines the file would remain In the hands of the sixteenth criminal judge, Enrique Pérez, who has handled several cases involving figures close to the Martinelli administration.

One of these investigations is, the investigation of the ex-directors of the Board of  The National Security Council  Gustavo Pérez and Alejandro Garuz for allegedly spying on communications of about 150 people. The hearing, which is scheduled for September 3, has been suspended six times for appeals filed by the defense of the accused.

Fugitives Ronny Rodríguez and William Pitti, ex-agents of the Council, are also investigated

Perez is also the judge who, in a ruling of November 2017, ordered a dismissal in the case against ex- Martinelli Minister Giselle Burillo,  for alleged irregularities in the contracting of electric plants.

The Sixteenth Criminal Court is also in charge of the case for alleged anomalies in the purchase of dehydrated foods through the now-defunct National Aid Program (PAN) for $14.5 million.

Giácomo Tamburrelli, ex-director of the PAN, and Rubén De Ycaza,  representative of Lerkshore International, the supplier company, among others. are investigated in this criminal case

Pérez is the judge of the long drawn out fraud case involving the ex-governor of Coclé Richard Fifer for an alleged fraud of Gold Dragon Capital Management.

Pérez also absolved the former Social Development Vice Minister Zulema Sucre, in the so-called Gucci case. Sucre was being investigated for the alleged commission of the crime of embezzlement, after her ex-escorts accuse her of assigning tasks unrelated to her duties, such as taking her dog for a walk. His decision is under appeal.

On Wednesday there will be an extraordinary plenary session of the Court, to discuss whether it admits or not the protection presented by the defense of the former president to take away the competence of the Court. The speaker is Judge Oydén Ortega.

Last Thursday, the plenary dealt with the case but did not reach an agreement. Judicial sources reported that Judges Hernán De León, Efrén Tello (Deputy Luis) Ramón Fábrega) and Asunción Alonso Mojica (substitute of José Ayú Prado) would promote a project of failure in which the plenary would decline jurisdiction and order the referral of the case to the Sixteenth Criminal Court, as Martinelli requested reports La Prensa.