Citizens Assembly calls for police chiefs head

Panama’s Citizens' Assembly on Friday Mar 9, demanded the immediate removal of Gustavo Perez as head of the National Police (PN). 

The group said that such separation is necessary to start an early research and procedure for the immediate dismissal of Perez for violating the law and threaten the internal integrity of the state.  "We call for respect for the law and to start as soon as possible a process of purification and demilitarization of the police,"  said the statement.

The statement  was issued before the the irrevocable resignation of Minister of Public Security, Jose Raul Mulino.Mulino.

 Lawyers, politicians and analysts spoke of a violation of the constitution, and of an institutional crisis, that arose with Perez's statements and actions  whose severity  cannot be overlooked said  the Assembly. 

The  Assembly  recalled that under  Panama’s Constitution and laws  it is "strictly forbidden for members of the PN, whatever their rank, to be involved in public affairs and to challenge decisions by their superiors."