Judicial

Relatives of prisoners complain of abuses

Families of prisoners detained on drug charges are denouncing authorities from Ministerio Público, the Dirección de Investigación Judicial and the Dirección de Investigación e Información Policial for corruption and abuse of power.

According to the prisoners' relatives, functionaries of those organization are trying to threaten them into making declarations against family members who are behind bars.

Juliana Morales, the wife of one of those arrested in a case involving the purchase of a controlled substance in Antón, indicated that her husband is a victim of persecution by authorities who want him to take responsibility for a crime for which someone else has already confessed.

When questioned about this and other incidents, the fiscal superior of Coclé, Samuel Quintero, said that he hasn´t received any complaints about the cases. "However," he added, "we will investigate them if presented, because every employee of the Ministerio Público has been trained to respect people's rights and comply with due process."