Tourism boss taking journalist to court.

The Public Ministry (MP)has admitted a charge of defamation against La Prensa journalist Mónica Palm, by the administrator of the  Panama Tourism Authority, Salomon Shamah.

The lawsuit, dated Jan. 12, is based on a commentary headed Invoice. published a day earlier in the "As Is" column of Palm  and concerned President Martinelli and “Salo” Shamah  and an upcoming Supreme Court decision on former Mayor, Bosco Vallarino.

The complaint was forwarded to the  Eighth Circuit, by  attorny Adela Cedeño, who  notified Palm this week , as confirmed by Jair Urriola lawyer, defender of the journalist.

The complaint, signed by attorney Rosendo Rivera, says that although Shamah is aware of the rules that prevent you from bring suit for crimes against the honor as a public servant with national jurisdiction, he considers that the his his honor and his family were injured, and is not prevented from requiring an investigation, as it implied he was  being accused, along with President Martinelli, of the crime of influence peddling.

Rivera is the same attorney who in 2005 sued for libel and slander the then director of TVN Channel 2 News, Sabrina Bacal, and journalist Justin Gonzalez for which both were convicted in 2010.

Rivera is also the lawyer of former Secretary of State Alfredo Prieto in a case against Juan Carlos Tapia.

In June 2011, a ruling of the Second Court of Justice concluded that the MP cannot prosecute cases of honor  when the victim is a  national official .

"Article 193 of the Penal Code, which deals with offenses against honor, says that when "the alleged offended is one of the public servants referred to in article 304 of the Constitution (governors, magistrates, prosecutors, judges, ministers or heads of autonomous entities) or elected officials, do not impose criminal penalties, which does not exclude liability arising from the fact."

Luis Navarro, president of La Prensa, said that "Panama would benefit more if senior officials stopped attacking the messenger and devoted that energy to working  with efficiency, transparency and accountability."

He said that La Prensa maintains its uncompromising commitment to investigate and report, and provide support to journalists in their mission.

The president of the Journalists' Forum, Guido Rodriguez, said that officials with the national authority  and the prosecutor, Jose Ayu Prado, should be updated in the legal norms that have decriminalized libel and injury, to avoid incurring legal and constitutional violations.

The President of the Union of Journalists, Philemon Medina, said that "the MP is still an instrument of persecution against journalists and ignores the rules that prevent you from opening this type of process when the complainants are officials with national jurisdiction.