CPJ urges Panamanian authorities to lift order blocking reporting on 2 prominent state contractors

Mexico City, March 5, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Panamanian authorities to immediately rescind a four-month-old “protection order” issued against political commentator Sabrina Bacal and Venezuelan investigative journalist Roberto Deniz, which prohibits them from reporting on the alleged business dealings of two prominent state contractors. 

On Friday, a guarantee judge is scheduled to hold a control hearing to determine if the order, issued on November 6, 2025, by assistant prosecutor Isela Mela Peralta, complies with constitutional and international human rights protections, according to Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. 

“Using judicial protection measures to gag investigative journalism is a flagrant violation of international freedom of expression standards,” said Jose Zamora, CPJ’s Américas regional director. “The Panamanian judiciary must ensure that the law is not used to shield public figures from scrutiny.”

Bacal told CPJ in a phone interview that the legal restriction stems from a criminal complaint seeking $1 million in damages for slander and defamation that was filed on behalf of brothers Roberto and Ramón Carretero Napolitano through their legal counsel. Bacal said the complaint followed an October 1, 2025 report on her program Sabrina sin censura, which detailed the brothers’ long-standing ties to multiple Panamanian administrations and their business dealings in Venezuela.

According to the Panamanian news website Concolón, the two men are figures of high public interest, noting that in December 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) included both men on its sanctions list for their alleged roles in supporting former Venezuelan Nicolás Maduro’s regime.

CPJ’s emails to the Panamanian Public Ministry and the attorney representing the Carretero brothers were not immediately returned.