Supreme Court nixes judges house arrest appeal

PANAMA’S Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) turned down a writ of habeas corpus filed by the defense of suspended judge Alejandro Moncada Luna, who is under house arrest while being investigated for unfair enrichment, money laundering, corruption of public officials and creating false documents
The appeal, filed on Tuesday October 21 called for the house arrest order issued against Moncada Luna to be revoked.
It is the fourth resource denied to the defense of the suspended magistrate reports La Prensa Previously, the Supreme Court rejected him two unconstitutional appeals and an injunction.
The defense argued that the arrest violates Articles 160 and 216 of the Constitution, as it was ordered by the subcommittee of Guarantees of the National Assembly which it is not competent to do so .
However, the Court argued that this scenario against the proponent must challenge the constitutionality of the rule that gives the Guarantees Subcommittee the power to order the arrest, contained in the Criminal Procedure Code.
It also argued that in the videos of the hearing before the subcommittee showed no records that the defense had objected, through a warning of unconstitutionality to the detention measure when it was requested by the deputy prosecutor, Pedro Miguel González.
Sidney Sitton, lawyer for Moncada Luna, said the court has evaded its responsibility to protect the judge’s fundamental rights and announced that he will bring the case before the Commission on Human Rights.