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7/29/2019 Mensual.prensa.com Mensual Contenido 2011-05-25 Hoy Panorama Cable09 Corruption Supreme Court Yelinek C

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SECRETSECTION01OF03PANAMA000823

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENTFORWHA/CEN/BRIGHAM

DEPARTMENTPLEASE

PASS

TO

USAID

ADOLFO

FRANCO

(AA/LAC),

STEVEHENDRIX(LAC/RSD),ANDROBERTKHAN(LAC/CEN)

E.O.12958:DECL:04/05/2009

TAGS:PARM,PREL,KCOR,PTER,KJUS,PM,NI,CO,GA,POLITICS&FOREIGNPOLICY

SUBJECT:PANAMANIANSUPREMECOURTTHROWSOUTCHARGES

AGAINSTISRAELIARMSSMUGGLER

REF:A.02PANAMA2820

B.02PANAMA1518

C.03

PANAMA

2451

D.03PANAMA3294

E.PANAMA0730

ClassifiedBy:Charged'AffairesChristopherJ.McMullenforreasons1.

4(b)&(d)

SUMMARY:ArmsTraffickerWalks

1.

(C)

Citing

"lack

of

jurisdiction,"

by

an

8

1

vote,

Panama'sSupremeCourthasterminatedPublicMinistry

investigationsofallchargesagainstIsraelinationalShimon

YalinYelinek,currentlyresidinginPanama,forhisalleged

roleinsmugglingNicaraguanmilitaryweaponstothe

paramilitaryUnitedDefenseForcesofColombia(AUC). More

thanonesourcehasallegedthatalleightjusticeswhovoted

forthedecisionreceivedbribes.WiththeSupremeCourt's

action,announcedinprintandtelevisionmediaduringthe

weekofMarch29,therearenootherchargespendingagainst

YelinekinPanamaoranyothercountry,includingtheUnited

States. (NOTE:YelinekisthesubjectofanongoingDEA

moneylaundering

investigation.

END

NOTE.)

Nicaraguan

authoritieshavenotbroughtchargesagainstYelinekorany

Otterloodefendants,whileColombianauthoritieshavecharged

twoOtterloodefendants,butnotYelinek,GOPsourcestold

EmbOffs. Embassyisassessingappropriateresponsestothe

Court'slatestquestionabledecision,whichhasbroughtthis

institutiontoanewlowintermsofcredibility. END

SUMMARY.


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Thelonedissentingopinion

2.(C)TheSupremeCourt'sdecisionthatPanamanianCourts

havenojurisdictionintheOtterloocasesurprisedmany

observers,given

the

fact

that

the

defendants

had

been

chargedwithfalsifyingPanamanianNationalPolicedocuments

andusingaPanamanianflaggedvessel,ownedbyacompany

headquarteredinPanama. LonedissentingSupremeCourt

JusticeAdanArnulfoArjona(pleaseprotect)toldAID

DirectoronApril1thatthemajorityruledonissueshe

believesshouldhavebeenlefttolowercourts.

3.(C)Arjonalamentedthatsincetakingleadershipofthe

CourtinJanuary2004,SupremeCourtPresidentCesarPereira

Burgosis

making

the

Court's

decisions

and

operations

more

andmoreopaque,restrictingpublicaccesstoCourtopinions

anddoingawaywithinternetpublicationofrulings,the

latteranAIDfundedinitiativetheCourttookunderArjona.

ArjonacriticizedPereiraforhavingruleddifferentlyontwo

nearlyidenticalcases. AnApril4LaPrensaarticlecites

thesametwocases,andchidestheCourtforlackof

consistency,comparingCourtdecisionmakingtoachild

pickingpetalsfromadaisy. UnderPereira,theCourthas

rejectedanyrelianceonprecedent,callingintodoubtthis

institution'scredibilitywiththePanamanianpublic.

WhoisCarlosCarrillo?

4.(C)ArjonaalertedAIDDirectorthatYelinek'sPanamanian

lawyer,CarlosE.Carrillo,isonetowatch. Carrilloisthe

attorneywhodefendedsittingLegislatorPedroMiguel

Gonzalez,wantedforthe1992murderofU.S.ArmySargeant

ZakHernandez(Ref.D),andthenhelpedprosecuteformer

JudicialTechnicalPoliceDirectorJaimeAbadontrumpedup

chargesofevidencetampering.(Abadhadledthe

investigationintheGonzalezcase). Carrilloalso

representedalleged

CEMIS

bag

man

and

PRD

Legislator

Mateo

Castillero. (NOTE:TheCEMISscandalinvolvedanother

SupremeCourtdecisionthathasraisedconcernsabout

corruptionwithinthisinstitution.SeeReftelCfordetails.

ENDNOTE.) RecentlyCarrillohasrepresentedthesisterof

drugtraffickerJesusArcangelHenaoMontoyaaswellformer

PresidentErnestoPerezBalladares(EPB)inother

controversialcasestriedbeforePanama'sSupremeCourt.


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(EPBwonhiscase,anditappearsthatLorenaHenaoMontoya

alsowill.)

CaseDetails

5.(S)AccordingtoreftelB,inNovember2001,thesuspect

cargovesselOtterloo,deliveredfromPuertoElBluff,

Nicaragua,to

Turbo,

Colombia,

14

containers

of

Nicaraguan

militaryweapons approximately3,000AKMriflesandfive

millionroundsofammunition. InJanuary2002,the

PanamanianNationalPolice(PNP)seizedandsearchedthe

OtterlooinPanamanianwatersafterreceivingatipfrom

Colombianauthorities. Thegunsandammoneverwere

recovered,butthesizeandnatureoftheshipmentwere

piecedtogetherbypoliceworkandintelreports. ThePNP

discoveredtwoconflictingsetsofcargorecordsandtook

statementsfromtheship'screwregardingtheOtterloo'strue

cargo. Nicaraguanofficialsthenproducedaweaponspurchase

orderallegedly

authorized

by

mid

level

PNP

officials

that

waslaterprovedtobeaforgery. Thedocumentwastracedto

ShimonYalinYelinekandtwoIsraelinationalsresidingin

Guatemala. YelinekfacedchargesinPanamaforforgeryand

conspiracyintheillegalshipmentofweaponsandwas

releasedon$750,000bail. AspeciallyformedOAScommission

implicatedYelinek,butexoneratedPanamanianauthorities.

6.(C)TheSupremeCourt'smajoritydecisiontoquashthe

Yelinekcasecitesalackofevidentiaryties(nexus)to

Panama

to

allow

Panama's

Supreme

Court

to

assert

jurisdiction. Thejusticesruledthatthereisnoevidence

thatmeetingstookplaceinPanamatopurchasetheweapons

andammunition,thatthepurchaseorderwasnotissuedin

Panama,anddismissedforgerycharges. Therulingignores

theOtterloo'sPanamanianflag(andlegalresponsibilities

underthatregistry)andthefactthattheforgedpurchase

orderwasaPanamanianNationalPolice(PNP)document.

Comment:NextSteps

7.(C)

In

yet

another

example

of

Panama's

Supreme

Court

deepsixingahighprofilecorruptioncaseontrumpedup

technicalities,Panamaniansarebecomingincreasingly

disenchantedwiththeirhighcourt. (NOTE:Panama'spress

closelycoveredtheYelinekcaseandreportedablowbyblow

ofbriberyaccusationsanddeliberationsintheequally

egregiousmultimillionCEMIScase,whichtheSupremeCourt

threwoutonSeptember17,2003.ENDNOTE.) Despitehis


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insistencethatcomplainantsexhaustallotheroptionsbefore

filingconstitutionalclaimswiththeSupremeCourt,Pereira

acceptedanotherparticularlycontentiouscase,orderingthe

immediatereleaseofFormerPresidentPerezBalladares'

assets,whichtheComptrollerGeneral'sofficefrozebasedon

EPB'stiestothePECCscandal.(SeeReftelD.)

8.(C)DEA'sinvestigationofYelinekcontinues. DEAPanama

hasrequestedtheassistanceofDOJ'sAssetsForfeitureMoney

Laundering(AFML)Sectionforaneventualprosecutioninthe

UnitedStates. DespitereportsthatYelinekistryingto

"expedite"hisnaturalizationasaPanamaniancitizen,high

GOPofficialsareapparentlyangrywiththerulingand

seekingtohaveYelinek'sresidencyrevokedinordertoexpel

himfromPanama. Panama'sconstitutionprohibitsextradition

ofPanamaniancitizens,whichwouldcomplicatefutureUS

prosecutionof

acase

against

him

if

he

were

to

gain

citizenship.

9.(C)Webelievethatthistypeofegregiouscorruptionin

thecourtsposesathreattoU.S.economicandsecurity

interestsinPanama. Unfortunately,decisionsdrivenby

factorsotherthanjurisprudenceareseenatalllevelsof

Panama'sjudicialsystem. Thelackofpositiverolemodels

atthetopappearstodrivethelackofpoliticalwillamong

leaderstotacklefundamentalweaknessesinthejudiciary.

Expressions

of

USG

concern

would

have

the

greatest

demonstrationeffectifdirectedatthetopofthejudicial

hierarchy. Thus,Embassyisincludingwhethera212(f)visa

revocationwouldbeappropriateforanyoftheindividuals

involvedinthiscaseinitsassessmentofoptionsfor

respondingtotheSupremeCourt'slatestdubiousdecision.

AnotheroptionwewillconsiderissuspendingUSAID's

assistancetotheSupremeCourt,channelingitinsteadto

civilsociety.

MCMULLEN

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