Ministry of Foreign Affairs, uttering no word about Mizrachi

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs have not been able to demonstrate based on what they stated in an official statement that the Panamanian businessman Mayer Mizrachi was a fugitive of Colombian justice, after his - legal - release of La Picota prison. In the first instance, the spokesperson of the Panamanian Foreign Ministry defended the veracity of the controversial statement, which appeared on its web site on Wednesday, June 22, but yesterday they took a U-turn, and now suggest that the initial information is the responsibility of Colombia. Indeed, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had announced that on Tuesday they would clarify everything through the person of Herbert Young, Prosecutor of the Panameñista party, and Irvin Halman, administrator of the National Authority for Government Innovation (AIG). But on Telemetro news, journalist Álvaro Alvarado said that at the last minute, Mónica De León, Director of Information and Public Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that Mr. Halman would go to the TV channel program. In any case, who did attend yesterday was lawyer Herbert Young, but first thing he did was to warn that he was not on [official] behave of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, but as a member of the Colegio Nacional de Abogados (CNA) and the Panamanian party. With this ambiguous introduction, Mr. Young tried to justify the statement that refers to Mizrachi as fugitive and accused him of bribery and prison escape. The blames put on Colombia "Diplomatic relations are based on trust. The communiqué issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Panama is a statement that reflects exactly what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia stated, “said the lawyer and politician. However, it is strange that there is no sealed document of the Government of Colombia which ratifies the version of the Panamanian authorities, which Mr. Young was attempting to defend. In this regard, the emissary of the Foreign Ministry could only state an excuse: "this weekend, the Deputy Foreign Relations Minister [Angela María] Holguin could not sign the release because she was signing the peace agreements [with the Farc]". So far, and in the midst of these accusations, Mr. Mizrachi´s lawyers reiterated that the Panamanian entrepreneur came out of La Picota prison legally, and his status in Colombia is "liberty". In addition, he confirmed that they are only waiting for the response of the Colombian Government, before a request for political asylum in favor of Mayer Mizrachi, underpinned by a clear persecution by the Panamanian authorities. Interference by the Executive For his part, Juan Carlos Araúz, Vice President of the National Association of Lawyers (CNA), clarified that what as outlined yesterday by Herbert Young does not represent a collegiate position. "The members of the CNA can boast their membership, but when the College asserts an opinion, it does so explicitly through the Board of Directors," he said. He also censured the interference of the Executive in this case. "It is timely also to note that the Executive should keep prudence required to avoid giving political opinions when these issues are in the hands of the judiciary", he recommended.