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.
May 15, 2005 (Press 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/
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/
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