(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 12 January 2004 IAPA press release: IAPA concerned at Panama court reporting restrictions MIAMI, Florida (January 12, 2004)-The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today expressed concern at recent statements by Panama’s newly-installed supreme court chief justice concerning the application of restrictions on reporting on the activities of the judiciary. […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 12 January 2004 IAPA press release:
IAPA concerned at Panama court reporting restrictions
MIAMI, Florida (January 12, 2004)-The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today expressed concern at recent statements by Panama’s newly-installed supreme court chief justice concerning the application of restrictions on reporting on the activities of the judiciary.
Upon taking office on January 4, Chief Justice César Pereira Burgos announced that he would enforce the restrictions and accused the news media of committing abuses when reporting on the judiciary.
The action is apparently in retaliation for the airing by the local press of a discussion in the Supreme Court in which Pereira Burgos criticized the Panamanian Comptroller General, Alvin Weeden, during proceedings against former president Ernesto Pérez Balladares.
On the orders of Pereira Burgos, news media will now be able to assign only one representative to the judiciary’s press room.
Rafael Molina, chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, said he was concerned that this restriction would limit the public’s right to information and undermine the guarantees that are necessary for the free practice of journalism.
Molina regretted that the action was taken soon after the Judicial Forum on Freedom of the Press, held by the IAPA in Panama last November, in which judges and journalists discussed ways of achieving a greater understanding on access to and dissemination of legal information as a prerequisite for exercising the right to information.
During the November 14, 2003 forum, the need to train judges and employees of the judiciary concerning access to information and ways to improve the efficiency of the judiciary’s press offices were discussed.
Molina called on the Panamanian authorities to protect press freedom, reminding them that a free society is characterized by an independent judicial branch and a free press.
