from caribbeannewsnow.com

By Kenneth Rijock

MIAMI, USA — José Ayú Prado, the chief justice of the Panama Supreme Court of Justice, has publicly refused to take any action against an allegedly corrupt auxiliary member of the judiciary, Yoideth Chirú Manrique, who is under investigation after she ordered the immediate release of 25 defendants charged with narcotics trafficking.

Observers with legal backgrounds have stated that there was no legal basis for the release of the defendants, and unjustified dismissal of charges.

Suspicions that multiple bribes paid to Chirú to facilitate the release of the 25 drug trafficking defendants were shared with Ayú Prado have Panamanians up in arms over the scandal.

Notwithstanding his involvement in several major bribe and kickback scandals, neither the president of Panama nor the local equivalent of the judicial qualifications commission, which is apparently toothless, have been able to remove the chief justice from office.

Many Panamanians, who are now asserting that there is no possibility that Ayú Prado will be forced to step down, have concluded that President Juan Carlos Varela’s much-anticipated reform government was a paper tiger, with no real intention to take down the judges that are taking bribes to fix cases, and are waiting for the next government to actually conduct much-needed reform.

They are ready for Varela to leave office, but that will not occur until July 1, 2019.

Kenneth Rijock is a banking lawyer turned-career money launderer (10 years), turned-compliance officer specialising in enhanced due diligence, and a financial crime consultant who publishes a Financial Crime Blog. The Laundry Man, his autobiography, was published in the UK on 5 July 2012.