Bar Association calls the Comptroller’s actions ‘excess of functions’

The union warns that this type of action erodes the separation of powers, weakens democratic institutions and creates a dangerous precedent of undue interference in the administration of justice.

The National Bar Association of Panama condemned this Friday the irruption of officials from the Comptroller General of the Republic in proceedings by the anti-corruption prosecutors of the Public Ministry (MP) and described the fact as “serious excess of functions.”

According to the union, chaired by Maritza Cedeño, these actions not only lack legal basis, but also compromise the validity of the evidence, violate due process and put the integrity of ongoing investigations at risk.

The statement also warns that this type of action erodes the separation of powers, weakens democratic institutions and creates a dangerous precedent of improper interference in the administration of justice.

The union demands the immediate cessation of these practices, unrestricted respect for the autonomy of the Public Ministry and remembers that the defense of the constitutional order is not optional, but an unavoidable obligation of all public servants.

The facts

The ANC’s reaction arises after the Attorney General’s Office General of the Nation will inform reported during the night of Thursday, April 9, that it initiated a criminal investigation, as a result of officials from the Comptroller’s Office allegedly interrupting an interview procedure with auditors, in the case being followed against the former vice president of the Republic,Jose Gabriel Carrizo.

In a press release, the entity stated that the complaint was presented by a senior Anti-Corruption prosecutor, who reported “about officials from the Comptroller General of the Republic who burst into the middle of an investigation that involved auditors from said institution, thereby preventing its completion.”

“The aforementioned auditors, upon being requested by the competent authority, were giving an interview in a case being brought forward in said office for the crime of unjustified enrichment, against a former vice president of the Republic,” the press release reads.

‘They were being interrogated’

During Thursday afternoon, the journalist Alvaro Alvarado He shared a video on his X account in which the controller Anel Flores is seen with a group of people entering an office.

“Images of the arrival of Comptroller Anel Flores at one of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Offices. Apparently he had to go find his forensic auditors since they were being questioned as if they were the ones being investigated. News in development“, wrote.

After the complaint from the Attorney General’s Office, the Comptroller’s Office has not commented.

The Press He requested a reaction from Comptroller Flores on the issue, but there is still no response.

Information in development

Eliana Morales Gil

Political Section Editor