Memorial Day is a time when the United States remembers those who have fallen in its many foreign wars. The flag will be at half staff again at the American section of the Corozal Cemetery, which is shown above.

Meanwhile Panama is in mourning for Monsignior Jorge Altafulla, who was stabbed to death at the rectory next to the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Church. There's a suspect in custody.

I have some serious problems about lurid publicity in criminal cases that should be sorted out in court, and both the coverage of Altafulla's murder another much-publicized affair in the United States shows some of what I mean.

The body of Chandra Levy, a young congressional aide who had an affair with her boss and then disappeared, has been found. It seems that the man she worked for, Representative Gary Condit, had nothing to do with her death. However, the spotlight of suspicion chose Condit, and the mainstream news media in the United States seemed as if they couldn't talk about anything else until the events of last September 11 intervened. Tried in the press, Condit was resoundingly crushed in a recent Democratic primary, and is serving out the final months of his long congressional career.

Now I think that the voters of Condit's district had the right to vote him out for whatever reason suited them. Certainly a lot of American voters are tired of the men they elect to office treating the young women who work for them as perks of office. Certainly a lot of American voters are tired of the men they elect to office, period. But then Condit was defeated so badly because he was identified as a suspect in Ms. Levy's disappearance, and now, after he lost the election, it turns out that he probably wasn't the murderous creep that many people thought him to be.

Now let's look at how Panama's highest-profile murder case has been publicized.

La Prensa first erroneously gave the suspect, who has a Spanish surname, a Muslim surname. Now where did they get that? It seems that SOMEBODY was using a tragedy to sell the stereotype that Muslims are dangerous terrorists, and vice-versa. La Prensa got the suspect's name right the next day, but they ran no correction and published no apology.

The police repeatedly paraded the suspect before news photographers and videojournalists. Police and prosecutors told the media that their suspect had confessed. The various media published several different versions of a motive, based on the alleged confession, based on interpretations of other statements attributed to the suspect, based on police descriptions of an anonymous communique, and based on who knows what.

Monsignior Altafulla had his throat slashed and was stabbed 14 times. It was a horrendous crime, as sick an act of rage as Panama has seen in a long time. The author of this crime needs to be held accountable for it.

There comes a time, however, to allow the proper authorities --- probably members of a jury in this case --- to determine the facts. Is the suspect actually the person who did this terrible act? If so, was the suspect's act the product of a mental illness, such that it would be unjust to punish him as if he were a sane man? Read all about it in the sensationalist press, but this is really not the proper forum to try a murder case.

It was a major story, and will continue to be such. Willy Carrera covers Altafulla's murder in our News section, but probably his other story in that section, about the growing movement for constitutional change, is of more importance to Panama.

In our Business pages, we have an international story, Transparency International's bribe payers index. Mireya Moscoso's and José Antonio Sossa's denials notwithstanding, Panama has a serious problem of that sort, and it would help to understand its international dimensions as we try to come to grips with the problem here. And by the way, TI's British chapter has issued a very interesting report on corruption in the international arms business, and given the current scandal about arms making their way from Nicaragua to the Colombian AUC paramilitary with alleged Panamanian police participation, it's very timely.

Though there's a lot of news to report this time, this issue is a bit more culturally oriented than most. We have a report on the new Artguilders group and the information you will need if you are inclined to attend the Theatre Guild of Ancon's first summer events in a long time. We review not only the usual cool Internet sites, but also a chamber music recital in a La Chorrera church and a major Panamanian historical work that came in the form of a public commission's report.

We have full Opinion sections on both the Spanish and English sides of the website, and several Letters, most of which make reference to an allegation in the last issue that The Panama News is "anti-American" and "anti-white." This issue's Editorial touches again on the subject of possible constitutional changes.

I can't in good conscience close out this discussion without mentioning the major scandal that has erupted in Panamanian journalism, with the arrest of radio and erstwhile newspaper personalities Blas Julio and Alonso Bucho Pinzón, who were videotaped in a sting operation trying to squeeze $300,000 out of developer Abdul Waked in exchange for an end to unfavorable stories about him. Here again, the prosecutors are unfortunately trying their case on television. The tapes they gave to the press were pretty damning, but of course the police and prosecutors have not opened their entire files in this matter for public inspection.

The accused say they were set up, and all this will surely be argued and decided in a court.

But let me say that extortion is NOT an exercise of freedom of the press. If Julio and Pinzón did what it is alleged that they did --- what they appeared to be doing in those televised tapes --- then they deserve to be treated like any other blackmailers.

The whole point of the struggle for freedom of the press is not to carve out some privileged niche for those who report, record, edit, disseminate and comment upon the news. It's not about privileges at all. It's about rights --- yours, mine and everybody else's.

Since the last issue appeared Panama has seen three trials of people accused of criminal defamation for opinions they expressed, and my heart goes out to those defendants. But when someone who shares my profession abuses his or her position, I won't be there to express my solidarity. Sorry, Blas and Alonzo, but you swim alone on this one.

Eric Jackson
editor

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