The National College of Lawyers of Panama condemned on Friday the incursion of officials from the Comptroller General's Office into the proceedings of the anti-corruption prosecutor's offices of the Public Ministry (MP) and described the event as a "serious overreach of functions." According to the guild, led by Maritza Cedeño, these actions not only lack legal basis, but also compromise the validity of the evidence, violate due process, and jeopardize the integrity of ongoing investigations. The statement also warns that such practices erode the separation of powers, weaken democratic institutions, and create a dangerous precedent for undue interference in the administration of justice. The guild demands the immediate cessation of these practices, the unrestricted respect for the autonomy of the Public Ministry, and reminds that the defense of the constitutional order is not optional, but an inescapable duty of all public officials.
The Facts The CNA's reaction comes after the Attorney General's Office reported on the evening of Thursday, April 9, that it had initiated a criminal investigation. This was after officials from the Comptroller's Office allegedly interrupted a diligence of interviews with auditors in the case against former Vice President José Gabriel Carrizo. In a press release, the entity recounted that the complaint was filed by a senior Anti-Corruption prosecutor, who reported "on officials from the Comptroller General's Office who burst into an investigative act involving auditors from said institution, thereby preventing its completion." "The aforementioned auditors, when required by the competent authority, were being interviewed within a case being handled in that office for the crime of unjustified enrichment, against a former Vice President of the Republic," the press bulletin reads.
