OPINION: Political payback behind police firing?

THE NEW YEAR started with fury in the National Police. Unfortunately, the object of this feeling does not seem to be crime or corruption, but political revenge. Commissioner Jacinto Gómez, who achieved fame for being responsible for the custody of Ricardo Martinelli as soon as he was extradited by the United States, was dismissed, without being heard, by a disciplinary board made up of officers with links to that ex-president’s government.

 It is a pity and cause for concern that the National Police has become an instrument of political manipulation, and retaliation against the officers who committed themselves to justice. Dismiss a senior officer, without allowing him to make his discharges and without the right to retirement, under suspicious conditions, It can trigger acts of revenge and divisions in the security sectors. This is just the breeding ground that corrupt, drug traffickers and gangs want to beat the rule of law. These estates have become a source of pretexts and a dispenser of favors. Panama urgently needs full, courageous and depoliticized police forces – LA PRENSA, Dec.4