The Judicial authority clarified this Wednesday that the official who was recently charged within Operation Damascus for her link to a criminal organization, had been on unpaid leave since 2016, and “at no time did she have access or was assigned any criminal case,” depending on the entity.
According to the Judicial Branch, the woman began working in the institution in 2010 in the Municipal Court of the District of Las Tablas as stenographer I; She later held various positions within the entity such as senior officer, judicial secretary, coordinator of the Processing Unit, of the Accusatory Penal System (SPA), and director of the Judicial Office in the province of Los Santos.
“As of 2016, the official made use of her right to benefit from unpaid leave. In use of that license, which expired on February 28, 2022, the official held various positions, including Judge of Guarantees, public defender, director of the Judicial Office in the SPA in the Judicial District of Panama. Due to her performance, she was referred by the director of the Office for the Implementation of the Accusatory Penal System (OISPA) to occupy an interim probationary position for a period of six months in the office of Judge Maribel Cornejo, and to be part of the group made up of eight attendees”, specifies the Judicial Branch in a statement.
While in Judge Cornejo’s office, the official read external cases, received statistics and emails from the administrative tasks of the Judicial Offices of the Second and Fourth Judicial District, of which she is the coordinating magistrate, but “at no time did she have access, nor was any criminal case assigned to him, ”according to the entity.
According to the Judicial Branch, having learned of the irregular situations regarding this official, Judge Cornejo immediately considered annulling her appointment on December 27, 2021.
Since that date, the official remained on unpaid leave, without having any other relationship with the institution, other than the reservation to her permanent position until February 28, 2022, the period for which the leave had been granted, as establishes the Law.
The institution clarified that the licenses without pay are a right that can only be waived by the judicial servant benefited.
Currently this 35-year-old official, who was charged with the alleged commission of crimes against collective security, organized crime and for the crime against public administration, in the form of corruption of public servants, is under provisional arrest. .
The former official allegedly provided confidential information to a criminal group linked to the Clan del Golfo, dedicated to the transfer of drugs.
This case began in October 2018, when the investigations of the operation called “Damasco” began.
