WHEREAS these judicial actions have forced the defendants to invest, in times of industry crisis, significant sums of money in seeking a defense in court
WHEREAS the exorbitant sums that are being claimed through these legal actions against the media could generate a climate of self-censorship with unfortunate consequences for democracy
WHEREAS the crimes of insult and slander are still part of the Criminal Code of Panama and that there are no ceilings for civil claims against the media and journalists
WHEREAS principle 2 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states: "No media or journalist should be sanctioned for spreading the truth or making criticisms or complaints against the public power."
THE 75th GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES
To call on the authorities to take the necessary measures to guarantee the full exercise of freedom of expression and of the press, respecting the principles of the Declaration of Chapultepec and international treaties that legitimize the universal right to inform and be informed.
Invite the authorities to repeal the norms that maintain the insult and slander against journalists in the criminal jurisdiction, so that these cases are brought exclusively to the civil jurisdiction with the due ceilings in the compensations that prevent, in case of a conviction , the closure of media.
