Panama- The raid on the house of Fred Salaff by the National Police and DIIP as well as the subsequent detention of all persons that were present is the result of a number of falsified and altered documents. Further, the reasons for the raid were not clear. This is what Modesto Alvarez, corregidor in Veracruz, alleges in a memorandum he sent to David Cáceres, mayor of Arraijan.

The memorandum, written on February 17th, recounts events on January 23rd that ultimately led to the detention of Fred Salaff and others who were producing adult movies at his residence in Veracruz.

Late that afternoon, subteniente Ruben Guerrero approached the corregidor to ask for his assistance in raiding the house. He had a video that showed people having sex in the walled garden of the residence, and stated that “immoral acts” were being committed. The police entered the premises, took a camera, various tapes and 15 rolls of 35mm film. Then the DIIP showed up as well. They wanted to arrest all those present, which included a woman who just arrived to cook.

The corregidor states in his memo that he was against the arrests because actually no crime had been encountered, and Salaff had shown them a letter from Harmodio A. Jimenez, director of the Ministry of Government and Justice, stating that no laws prohibit the production of adult material in Panama. The corregidor suggested to bring the tapes to the PTJ so that they could study the material to see if indeed crimes had been committed. No minors were found at the house either.

However, Eric Estrada, major of the DIIP, insisted on arresting everyone and made several phone calls. That finally resulted in one Miriam Pitti, Secretaria Judicial, ordering the detention of everyone present at the house.

The next day, a document popped up that a secretary then admitted had been falsified. The document, SUBDIIPV/No. 18, signed by DIIP chief of Veracruz Capt. Heriberto Lorenzo, is a formal request for assistence addressed at the corregidor to raid the house in order to search for fugitives and illegal firearms. No fugitives nor firearms were found at the house, and the police didn’t look for them either.

The secretary explained to the corregidor that the document had been backdated “to protect him.” The corregidor replied that he didn’t need protection and certainly wouldn’t endorse falsification of public documents, a crime under Panamanian law.

On other documents, the times of certain events have been altered, which the corregidor writes is a criminal act.

Fred Salaff is still being detained in La Joyita, supposedly on charges having to do with the fact that some children climbed trees next to the house to see what was going on there. It now appears that without falsifying documents and cooking up charges, the authorities can’t make any of this case stick. The only thing that’s getting raped here is the concept of justice and due process.