The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) deplored a decision by the Supreme Court of Panama condemning the newspaper Panama America to pay a fine for damage to honor of the former judge Winston Spadafora, while he focused his hope that "this case against freedom press it may be subjected to inter-American instances, to have exhausted the judicial process in the country. "
Panama America was sentenced to pay compensation of $25,000 to former Minister of Government and Justice Winston Spadafora. The exmagistrado felt offended and sued the newspaper and two of its journalists Jean Marcel Chéry and Gustavo Aparicio by a report in 2001 denouncing publicly funded construction of a road that reported a personal benefit, to provide access to a of their properties.
Claudio Paolillo, chairman of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information of the AIPA, called the ruling "disastrous precedent for press freedom by conditioning the efforts of investigative journalism". He added that this kind of "judicial retaliation against the media does nothing nut encourage self-censorship, which directly affects the right to information of all Panamanians," the statement said.
The AIPA has ruled on this case on several occasions while the process was submitted to various courts, always unfavorable to the right to information on irregularities in the management of public funds and abuse of privilege of government officials.
Paolillo, editor of the Uruguayan weekly Busqueda, explained that this process never contemplated inter-American legal history about "the truth, the figure of actual malice and acceptance of control of the press about public figures". He added that given the exhaustion of legal remedies in the country, the case should "be submitted at the request of System Protection of Human Rights".
The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It consists of more than 1,300 publications in the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, United States.
Cifras
25,000 es la sanción que impone el fallo de la Corte contra el diario "Panamá América".
2 periodistas también fueron condenados y tendrán que pagar igual suma de dinero.
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