Sossa, Navarro and the Supremes score a big victory against the press

Is it a "political crime" when one publishes a series of business section articles about a swindler from Atlanta who has set up shop in Bocas del Toro, bought or otherwise obtained political connections that includes the mayor of Bocas at the time (Eladio Robinson) and a vice president of Panama at the time (Arturo Vallarino) and begun another scam, this time with the fraudulent sales of teak an noni plantations, and moreover who has created his own little thug militia, the Angel Patrol, and then said swindler accuses the author and publisher of the articles with criminal defamation (calumnia e injuria)? Almost to a man and a woman, the politicians of this country argue that this is a common crime with no political connotations. They don't want to admit political connotations because many a politician profits handsomely from his or her associations who set up shop in Panama to run scams directed at foreigners.

And is it a "political crime" to publish ribald satire about a president and her minister of government and justice? In that notorious case, not only was there no concession that the "crime" had a political character, but the courts obligingly ruled that all satire that depicts actual persons is a crime in Panama.

And is it a "political crime" when journalists publish a true story that depicts top public officials directing public funds toward construction works that are almost exclusively for their own benefit, and said reporters are acquitted of "calumnia" --- publishing something false and defamatory --- but convicted of "injuria" --- publishing a truth that makes a pompous government official look bad?

As Mireya Moscoso was leaving office in August of 2004, she issued lists of people whom she had pardoned. Among these were a gang of Cuban terrorists led by the bloodthirsty civilian airline bomber Luis Posada Carriles, who were thwarted in an attempt to set off a powerful bomb on the University of Panama campus. There were a bunch of politicians, politically connected characters, relatives of politicians and ordinary hoodlums on the pardon list, too.

However, more than one-third of those receiving Mireya Moscoso's pardons were journalists who had been convicted of or were facing charges of criminal defamation.

Cuba broke off relations with Panama over the Posada Carriles pardon, which received a great deal of international attention.

Meanwhile, then Attorney General José Antonio Sossa and Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro challenged all of the pardons --- of journalists and Mireyistas as well as of the terrorists --- alleging that they were unconstitutional on a number of grounds.

It didn't seem like they would get very far. Toro Perez Balladares and, in his absences from the country, his vice presidents, had issued pardon lists of their own, for all manner of offenses. Yes, the constitution provides that pardons are only for "political" offenses, while for ordinary crimes a president can only commute sentences. However, the constitution does not define which crimes are "political" and previous pardons had been applied to torturers, drug dealers, sticky fingered politicians and others whom some might call common criminals.

But now the Supreme Court has unanimously voided Mireya's pardons, alleging that her list of names of people to be pardoned was insufficient, because it could not in itself identify which had committed or allegedly committed "political" offenses as opposed to common crimes. Look up all the case files and determine those things one at a time? The magistrates are far to lazy to do that themselves, and the political hacks they hire as clerks can't be expected to actually work, can they?

It proved much easier to just void all of the pardons, and that was what was done.

Now it's a problem, but not so much for Sossa.

The former attorney general, after all, is best known as the proctector of American "offshore asset protection guru" Marc Harris, now a resident of a US federal prison. Sossa was notoriously pro-corruption and it's unlikely that he will be allowed to hold any public office ever again. Certainly he would stand little chance of being elected to anything but given the Panamanian political class, there is a very outside chance that some future president might feel untouchable enough to appoint him to something.

The problem is for Juan Carlos Navarro. He wants to be president of Panama and he has just revived criminal cases or convictions against dozens of journalists. Maybe worst of all, he's going after the votes of young adults and he's revived the criminal satire conviction of Ubaldo Davis, the creator of the popular La Cascara television show. Since the mayor's stunning court victory, Panama now has more than 100 journalists with ciminal charges pending against them. That adds up to about one-third of the national press corps. It has become an international human rights scandal, and arcane legal arguments notoriously don't make good bumper sticker slogans to offset the ugliness.

Look for Navarro to cut ever so slightly into Balbina Herrera's base of support among the PRD's Norieguista thug base with his legal victory over all the journalists. To those who always liked the idea of smashing up newsrooms, the mass criminalization of journalism doesn't look at all bad. But he's going to lose support from young PRD members who also watch La Cascara, and from a wide section of the public that takes a dim view of press bashing.

Oh, and might he make up for some of his losses by financial support from the people who brought those charges against the journalists in the first place? Perhaps. But in this reporter's case that Mayor Navarro revived, the accuser is not a Panamanian citizen and recent changes to election laws bar political donations by foreigners. And besides, the Atlanta swindler whose charge was revived due to Mayor Navarro's efforts, one Thomas E. McMurrain may be short of funds anyway. He is, after all, a resident of a US federal prison at the moment.

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