Pnma: Freedom of the press under attack

...Attorney General José Antonio Sossa has accused Fundacion Libertad president and former La Prensa publisher I. Roberto Eisenmann Jr. of orchestrating a “systematic and incisive” smear campaign against himself and the Public Ministry. Calling himself a “firm supporter of freedom of expression,” Sossa — who is currently pressing criminal defamation charges against Eisenmann because the latter noted that the attorney general has “protected delinquents” while prosecuting journalists — alleged a long campaign of harassment against himself by La Prensa.

In fact Sossa, both as a complainant in his own right and by putting the resources of the Public Ministry behind others, has seen to it that more than one-third of all Panamanian journalists are facing or have faced criminal defamation charges, many of them brought by public officials or former public officials. In fact Sossa has made a public declaration accusing a substantial portion of the Panamanian press of being a “criminal element.” In fact Sossa has blocked virtually all investigations of major cases of political corruption during his tenure. In fact Sossa has steadfastly refused to act on complaints by victims of foreign operations such as The Harris Organization and the Millennium Fund using Panama as a base for international swindling operations. In fact Sossa deputized foreign bounty hunters hired by one Marc Harris — now awaiting sentencing on money laundering and other charges in a Miami federal lockup — to make arrests in Panama. Although there will doubtless be legal wrangling about what gets into any court file, Sossa’s actions are unambiguous and a part of the public record.

It seems that corruption in government and suppression of the press go hand in hand.