Former Panama Officials to Court

Panama, Nov 7 (Prensa Latina) Former Panamanian officials will appear before a court Friday for the crime of abuse of authority in the case of the release of terrorist Luis Posada Carriles in August 2004, official sources reported.

The Justice Supreme Court (CSJ) stated that former Government Minister Arnulfo Escalona, former Police director Carlos Bares, and former Migration assistant director Javier Tapia are involved in the process.

Posada Carriles and his accomplices Gaspar Jimenez, Guillermo Novo and Pedro Remon, were detained in Panama in November 2000 during the celebration of the10th Ibero-American Summit, when conspiring to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro at a popular act.

Judge Jose Ho sentenced Posada Carriles and Jimenez to eight years of imprisonment in 2002, for threatening collective security and falsification of documents, and the other two terrorists to seven, for the first crime.

However, ex President Mireya Moscoso pardoned the terrorists a few days before concluding her mandate.

In mid 2008, the CSJ declared unconstitutional the measures in favor of Posada Carriles and his accomplices.

On that occasion, that judiciary body considered the decision with a retroactive nature, so the processes of those benefited should return to the situation they were in August 2004.

A group of lawyers representing trade unions, indigenous organizations and student movements presented the extradition request against those terrorists early July at the Fifth Penal Court of Panama.

Taken from the web site(www.plenglish.com)