Panama reopens probe into priest’s 1971 forced disappearance

Panama’s Office of the Attorney General of the Nation (PGN) reportedly reopened the investigation into the forced disappearance of Colombian-born Father Hector Gallego in 1971.    

The PGN reported that the Homicide-Femicide section in Veraguas retook the investigation, which was closed 31 years ago, under request from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

The document adds that “according to the conclusions of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), the case is permanently in force, until the priest’s remains can be found.”

The PGN recalled in its press release that these events occurred in Santa Fe de Veraguas, on June 9, 1971, when Father Gallego was forcibly disappeared and his whereabouts have remained unknown ever since.

Former Colonel Nivaldo Madriñan, former Captain Melbourne Constantino Walker Nevans, and former Lieutenant Eugenio Nelson Magallon Romero, with the latter being a fugitive, were tried in 1993 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Monsignor Jose Domingo, Archbishop of Panama, said he’s been harboring hopes after being notified on the decision to reopen Father Gallego’s investigation, considering it a commitment with truth, justice and historical memory.