Minutes after Panama’s interim Supreme Court president, Hernán De León appeared on television, on  Thursday, August 16   to deny that he had been wiretapped and blackmailed in a plot to foil the prosecution of former president  Ricardo  Martinelli, the country ’s top prosecutor called him a liar.

"I can reaffirm to the country that he is lying and I tell him so in a direct and frontal way,” Attorney General, Kenia Porcell, told media gathered outside of her office.

The accusation came after De León in a TVN taped interview denied for a third time in a week that he has evidence that there is a recording against him and that there is no pressure, extortion or blackmail to favor former President Ricardo Martinelli, currently prosecuted by the  Supreme Court reports La Prensa.

Porcell said that she  complied "with informing the country of a reality, “objective, dangerous and delicate"  that the judge  confided to her  when he visited her office on July 30 to  tell her that he  was recorded and that several judges  intended to "knock down" the process against  Martinelli for alleged embezzlement and crimes against inviolability. of secrecy and the right to privacy.

She urged De León to assume his responsibility as a public servant public, because "information is being stored that can affect 5,000 more people".

"I'm worried that he missed the opportunity of his life and should have told the country with sincerity what has been said "she said.

Questioned about why she considered De Leon denied the recording, Porcell replied: "Maybe he's afraid ... that's why he denies it."

In the  TVN News, interview De León reiterated that he has not received any pressure and that

there is evidence that there is a compromising recording against him. He said he does not intend to declare himself impeded in the Martinelli wiretapping case, as requested by the complainants in the process.

The group of victims also requested on Thursday that the alternate judges Efrén Telloy Asunción Alonso recuse themselves from the case.

After hearing the interview in which he said:"there is no recording, I do not know any no type of recording, of filming, absolutely nothing of my person, nor extortion nor pressure or coercion of any kind"  Porcell told waiting journalists

"I am sure of what happened in my office and I am going to say it today, tomorrow and always"

Porcell addressed the magistrate "as a public servant is keeping information that affects citizens… I urge you to assume your responsibility."