The release of former security minister Jose Raul Mulino, following a court order overruling his 6- month-long preventive detention, has served to highlight a number of procedural flaws in the Public Ministry’s actions.
There is widespread concern over the manner in which the PM has been seen to rely excessively on measures such as preventive detentions, as has been the case for Mr. Mulino as well as for other former officials that served in the past administration. Upon his release, Mr. Mulino publicly declared how the “PM [was] totally manipulated by President Varela” himself, adding that the PM seems only interested in investigating the political opponents of the current head of state. “In the present situation, the Attorney General and prosecutors are steamrolling the rule of law and repressing the freedom of the people”, he warned.
Indeed, the conduct of many prosecutors appears to show complete disregard for due process as well as the fundamental rights of the accused. “This does immense damage to the PM”, according to Ernesto Cedeño, a lawyer. Mr. Cedeño urged Attorney General Kenia Porcell to take measures to rectify the multiple irregularities that are occuring under her watch, warning that the recent court rulings provide damning evidence of improper conduct on the part of her prosecutors. Adding that the presumption of innocence must be fundamentally preserved, Mr. Cedeño noted that it has been violated on too many occasions: “those prosecutors that are not doing a good job must be relieved of their responsibilities”, he argued.
Former First Lady Marta Linares de Martinelli also advocated the respect of the presumption of innocence if justice is to prevail: “in Panama today, you are guilty as found: you lose a year of your life while they then decide whether you are in fact guilty or innocent”.
Others too have added their voices to the choir of condemnation of many a prosecutor’s conduct.
Alejandro Perez, a lawyer and former government junior minister, highlighted the supposed abuse of measures such as preventive detentions, both in politically motivated as well as common cases.
Anti-corruption prosecutor Zuleyka Moore has been singled out as repeat offender on that count, in spite of multiple complaints about the arbitrary nature of her conduct. Her actions in the case of Mr. Mulino are a case in point: “her procedural improprieties are staggering”, Mr. Perez argued, adding that her subservience to the political agenda of the current executive is undeniable. He went on to warn that, as long as this perverse relationship subsists, we are likely to witness more arbitrary dfetentions and further political persecution.
Other legal experts go further, denouncing the systematic abuse of preventive detentions by the PM: “This happens regardless of the people in power, as I have been denouncing for over 20 years”, said
Silvio Guerra, a lawyer. Accorting to Mr Guerra, “there is a number of public prosecutors who systematically contravene the rule of law by applying preventive detention measures in cases that do not remotely warrant it: they should account for their actions to the nation”.
Mr. Guerra went on to add that preventive detentions should always be a measure of last resort, and that the fundamental rights of the accused should be safeguarded. Additionally, justices and prosecutors should not be subservient to the political power of the day: “only then, shall we have a PM that is worthy of its name”, he assured.
