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Author Topic: Panama stops criminal case against Dutch journalist  (Read 743 times)

ama

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Panama stops criminal case against Dutch journalist
« on: February 01, 2007, 11:52:48 AM »

Nicht neu, aber lesenswert!

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Panama stops criminal case against Dutch journalist

Criminal charges were filed against Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein after
he exposed fraud by land development company San Cristobal, but a
Panamanian court has now dismissed the case.

Released by:
Okke Ornstein
Release Date:
2005-05-15 15:37:16

For_Immediate_Release:

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA - The Panamanian Superior Tribunal has dismissed a
criminal defamation case against Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein that had
been initiated in 2003. The case started after Ornstein had published two
articles in local paper The Panama News about San Cristobal Land
Development, a real estate development company in Panama.

San Cristobal sold foreign investors so-called "Tropical Working Farms";
land with teak and noni fruit trees planted on it in the province of Bocas
del Toro. Ornstein revealed in his articles that the company was
committing fraud and that the owner and figurehead, US citizen Thomas E.
McMurrain, was a fugitive of justice in his home country because of an
earlier multi-million dollar fraud. It also turned out that various
criminals were working for San Cristobal and some local employees were
being investigated for drugs dealing.

After publication, San Cristobal filed a criminal complaint against
Ornstein and The Panama News. Contrary to the situation in the US and most
of Europe, libel and slander are crimes in Panama punishable with prison
sentences of up to two years.

A lower criminal court dismissed the case initially because San Cristobal
had failed to file any evidence of the alleged "crime against the honor."
San Cristobal then appealed that decision. Just days later, aforementioned
figurehead Thomas McMurrain was arrested and later extradited to the
USA. He pleaded guilty on charges of mail fraud and wire fraud earlier
this month.
It was learned today that the Superior Tribunal in Panama in February of
this year decided to uphold the earlier decision by the criminal court and
definitively dismiss the case, arguing that "this tribunal finds that no
criminal act has been shown to exist."

Criminal defamation cases are routinely used in Panama to silence
journalists who publish about fraud and corruption. Various international
press organizations have urged the Panamanian authorities for years to
decriminalize libel, but so far these efforts have been in vain.

The motivation for filing this specific case appeared to be pure
harassment. "Their lawyer showed up in the tabloid press and even on TV,
loudly demanding that I should be expelled from Panama," Ornstein recalls.

"They even bribed employees of the Immigration Service to stall my
application for residency," says Ornstein, who has received various death
threats from San Cristobal principals and employees.

The dismissal of the case does however not imply that the Panamanian
authorities will act against San Cristobal. The company continues its
activities under the name "Tropic Star Properties S.A."

Links:
For more information about journalist Okke Ornstein see his website at
http://www.ornstein.org

The articles about San Cristobal can still be found on the website of The
Panama News:
The Fugitive who would be King:
http://www.thepanamanews.com/pn/v_09/issue_08/business_02.html

The Noni Tubbies:
http://www.thepanamanews.com/pn/v_09/issue_09/business_01.html

Journalists threatened for investigating land development company:
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/49893/

Keywords  Panama stops criminal case against Dutch journalist
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Quelle:
http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200505/1116189436.html


Der Traum vom eigenen Baum in Südamerika ist gefährlich... Punkt.

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« Last Edit: February 01, 2007, 11:53:15 AM by ama »
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