Panama’s gag law referred to OAS and world organizations
Panama’s National Council of journalists, is taking the question of proposed gag law to the Organization of the American States (OAS).
The law being proposed by government would make it a crime with sentences of up to four years for journalists to criticize the president.
The legislation proposed by José Muñoz, president of the National Assembly, and Agustín Shellhorn. It calls for prison sentences for anyone who "offends or humiliates" the president or other elected officials.
Guillermo Antonio Adames president of the counil has spoken with Catalina Botero, who handles freedom of expression issues for the OAS. She has called for a report on the proposed law, and Adames is preparing it.
Petitions have also gone to the United Nations and other international agencies to put pressure on Panama's government not to pass the law.
