Struggle Over Freedom of Expression in Panama

(newsroompanama.com) - tvn - A struggle between the Commentator Juan Carlos Tapia and the Attorney General Giussepe Bonissi highlights a potential threat to the freedom of expression in the country, in that a legal opinion issued by the Chief of the Public Ministry puts them at odds. While Tapia said Bonissi's decision is both illegal and immoral, the Attorney General claims the law says the sanction cannot be applied. This was the tone in which both characters, Juan Carlos Tapia and Attorney General Giussepe Bonissi expressed their differences regarding a legal opinion in a libel case brought by the Secretary of Communication of the State against the boxing commentator. And it is that Bonissi asked the Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional a paragraph of Article 196 of the Penal Code, which would allow any public servant to seek criminal penalty for offenses to their honor.

This was in response to a request for an opinion from Supreme Court Magistrate Harley Mitchell over a submission of unconstitutionality presented by Tapia's defense lawyers. The struggle "bounces and extends" when it can be seen as impairing freedom of expression, in the event that any government employee could seek criminal action for any alleged insult to their honor. Aurelia Marin of the Association of Journalists stated that this entity is already concerned about the issue. Now it falls to the Supreme Court to clarify which members of the administration's staff, in addition to the highest ranking political officials already specified in the Constitution, are excluded from being able to seek criminal complaints for offenses against their honor.

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Original Source: newsroompanama.com
Date Retrieved: October 2, 2010.