Panamanian court frees jailed reporter

Panama City, July 16 (IANS/EFE) Veteran Panamanian journalist Carlos Nuñez was released from jail after spending 19 days behind bars for libel based on an article he wrote 12 years ago about a polluted river in the western province of Chiriqui.

“I am here for having defended a river of the Baru volcano, for having defended the residents and the people who struggle for an environment friendly to nature,” Nuñez, 71, told reporters as he left El Renacer prison in Panama City.

Amid embraces from family and friends, he said his only crime was to write about “a person who meddled at the source of the river and damaged it with pollution”.

Nuñez was released thanks to a court ruling commuting his jail sentence in favour of a fine, according to the leader of the Panama journalists union, Filemon Medina.

Press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders had called for Nuñez’s released and for a review of his trial, pointing out that the journalist was never even informed about the charges against him.

Groups representing Panamanian news gatherers have complained in recent days that police assaulted or unjustifiably detained reporters and photographers covering protests. The government denies the accusations.

–IANS/EFE