Panama court freezes La Prensa's assets amid defamation suit by former president
Panama court freezes La Prensa’s assets amid defamation suit by former president
Panamanian authorities should immediately restore Corporación La Prensa’s access to its financial assets, and ensure that legal actions do not censor the press.
This statement was originally published on cpj.org on 10 July 2020.
Panamanian authorities should immediately restore Corporación La Prensa’s access to its financial assets, and ensure that legal actions do not censor the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.On July 4, a Panamanian civil court ordered a freeze on the assets and bank accounts of Corporación La Prensa, which owns the newspapers La Prensa and Mi Diario, totaling $1.13 million, as part of a civil defamation lawsuit filed by former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares, according to news reports and a report by La Prensa. The order was finalized on June 22, but was not communicated to the company until July 4, according to La Prensa.
Under Panamanian law, one party in a civil suit can request a freeze on the other’s assets if they can persuade a court that those assets would be necessary to pay damages.
“By taking away the possibility of accessing our accounts, they take away our ability to pay our employees and buy supplies. It is a clear attempt at censorship,” Rita Vásquez, director of La Prensa, told CPJ via phone.
“A media company should not have its ability to function held hostage by an outrageous lawsuit, especially in a country like Panama, where there is a clear pattern of political figures using defamation suits to intimidate the press,” said CPJ Central and South America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick, in New York. “The Panamanian judiciary should release Corporación La Prensa’s assets and not allow powerful individuals to use the judicial system to restrict press freedom.”
More:
https://ifex.org/panama-court-freezes-la-prensas-assets-amid-defamation-suit-by-former-president/
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From La Prensa, google translatioin:
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Pérez Balladares intends to silence 'La Prensa'
The operation tries to destabilize this journalistic company, using underwriting as an excuse, through the hijacking of shares and bank accounts. A press conference on the subject will be held today at 10:00 am
Rolando Rodríguez B.
Jul 06, 2020 - 12:00 AM
This photo was deleted from Pérez Balladares's Twitter account, but was replicated by other means. Taken from the internet
The kidnapping of shares and bank accounts of Corporación La Prensa, SA (Corprensa) by former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares has calculated effects that put at risk the stability of the company and its journalistic and administrative staff.
The operation to silence this medium used the kidnapping of assets as a legal tool, in order to ensure the payment of its claims - $ 5.5 million - for alleged moral damage that affects not only the normal development of the medium, but the stability of all its personnel, just when the country is in the midst of a serious social and economic crisis due to the pandemic.
Numerous voices have been raised on this issue and experts warn that what the court ordered is openly an attack on freedom of expression and of the press.
The civil trial initiated by Pérez Balladares is only in its initial stage, in the first instance. And his claim supposes, in his opinion, that this medium did not meet journalistic ethical standards, when a review of everything that happened with his claims reveals not only that Pérez Balladares refused to give statements about his case, but that his own lawyers In communiqués issued at the time, they maintained that the Public Ministry made errors, which are not attributable to this medium. This was recorded in several news published by La Prensa .
Likewise, the former president's lawyers have expressed that the defense of this medium has intentionally delayed the development of the civil process. However, the court where this case is heard took seven years to admit the parties' evidence and counter-evidence.
Likewise, the defense of this medium has had to lodge constitutional guarantees twice in order to guarantee its right to defend itself. Both appeals were resolved this year by higher courts of justice in favor of La Prensa .
https://www.prensa.com/impresa/panorama/perez-balladares-pretende-silenciar-a-la-prensa/
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Google translation from Deutsche Welle, Spanish:
Panamanian ex-president kidnaps La Prensa newspaper accounts due to litigation
Ernesto Pérez Balladares claims $ 5.5 million for newspaper reports on the trials for alleged corruption, considering them part of a smear campaign.
The newspaper La Prensa de Panamá reported this Saturday (07.04.2020) that their accounts and shares worth up to $ 1.3 million were seized by former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares (1994-1999) in civil litigation for damages eight years ago and in which he claims $ 5.5 million.
"The judicial action is a direct attack on freedom of the press and the right to information, since it suppresses the operational continuity of the company, given that with it they freeze the funds to fulfill our contractual obligations," said the president of the La Prensa Corporation (Corprensa), Diego Quijano.
The kidnapping was formally decreed on June 22 by the Fifteenth Civil Judge, Lina Castro de León, by a civil lawsuit admitted in March 2012 and that has not yet been resolved, the newspaper said on Saturday.
Pérez Balladares claims $ 5.5 million for journalistic notes on the processes for alleged laundering carried out by the Prosecutor's Office, which he considered part of a smear campaign against him that, in his opinion, began in 2009.
La Prensa recalled that in 2009 the Prosecutor against Organized Crime opened an investigation against Pérez Ballaradares because "the company Lucky Games, which obtained a concession contract to operate 500 slot machines, sent money without any justification to Shelf Holding, a family company of the former president. "
"The lawsuit is limited to two publications, dated March 21 and 22, 2011, in which it is reported that Pérez Balladares' could be the subject of a second criminal investigation 'for alleged money laundering,' for alleged irregularities detected in an account bank in Bahamas, "" the Panamanian newspaper said on Saturday.
https://www.dw.com/es/expresidente-paname%C3%B1o-secuestra-cuentas-de-diario-la-prensa-por-litigio/a-54056696
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Former President of Panama kidnapped accounts and actions of La Prensa newspaperErnesto Pérez Balladares's action was carried out in the context of civil litigation. The newspaper's authorities called it a "direct attack on press freedom and the right to information."
July 4, 2020
The newspaper La Prensa de Panamá reported this Saturday that their accounts and shares worth up to $ 1.3 million were seized by former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares (1994-1999) in civil litigation for damages 8 years ago and in which the former prime minister claims 5.5 million dollars.
"The judicial action is a direct attack on freedom of the press and the right to information, since it suppresses the operational continuity of the company, given that with it they freeze the funds to fulfill our contractual obligations," said the president of the La Prensa Corporation (Corprensa), Diego Quijano.
The kidnapping was formally decreed on June 22 by the Fifteenth Civil Judge, Lina Castro de León, by a civil lawsuit admitted in March 2012 and that has not yet been resolved , the newspaper said on Saturday.
Pérez Ballaradares claims $ 5.5 million for journalistic notes on the processes for alleged laundering carried out by the prosecution , which he considered part of a smear campaign against him that, in his opinion, began in 2009 with the publication of documents that They reported funds from gambling houses that were benefited with concessions during his administration, the newspaper explained.
On his website, the former president maintains that "the execution of this kidnapping does not in any way limit the exercise of free journalistic activity to which the aforementioned media is entitled, let alone freedom of the press in the country."
La Prensa recalled that in 2009 the prosecution against organized crime opened an investigation against Pérez Ballaradares because “the Lucky Games company, which obtained a concession contract to operate 500 slot machines, sent money without any justification to Shelf Holding, a family company of the former president ”.
In the image a record of the former president of Panama Ernesto
Pérez Balladares, who governed between 1994 and 1999.
EFE / Ricardo Maldonado Rozo / Archive
”The lawsuit is limited to two publications, dated March 21 and 22, 2011, in which it is reported that Pérez Balladares" could be the subject of a second criminal investigation " for alleged money laundering," for alleged irregularities detected in an account bank in the Bahamas, '”the newspaper said on Saturday.
The Ninth Criminal Court ordered the definitive dismissal of the case against Pérez Balladares in April 2011, a ruling that was ratified in August 2017 by the Second Court of Justice of Panama, the Panamanian newspaper indicated.
https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2020/07/05/ex-presidente-de-panama-secuestro-cuentas-y-acciones-del-diario-la-prensa/
