A lawyer for ex-officials assaulted by municipal police during a protest over unpaid severance payments has filed a criminal complaint against Panama City Mayor Mayer Mizrachi, the director of the municipal police, and the agent who attacked former employee Alberto Llerena. Attorney Valentín Jaén argued that the severity of the beating, which left Llerena with a fractured vertebra and a brain injury, constitutes attempted homicide and demanded immediate action from the Public Ministry.
“We directed the complaint against the aggressor, against the police director and against the mayor, and we noted that we are facing a crime of attempted homicide” [Translated from Spanish]
Jaén said in an interview. The complaint was lodged late Monday, just hours after a group of dismissed workers gathered at the Hatillo administrative building to demand the municipality pay outstanding labor benefits.
Ex-Officials Assaulted as Protest Over Unpaid Benefits Turns Violent
The confrontation erupted on Monday, August 3, when former municipal employees returned to press for compensation they say was never delivered after a wave of dismissals two weeks earlier. Videos circulating on social media captured the moment an agent chased Llerena, delivered a kick that sent him crashing to the ground, and stood by as other officers surrounded him. Jaén identified the officer as Inspector Sánchez, calling him “the instigator, the material author” of the violence.
Llerena underwent surgery at Santo Tomás Hospital, where doctors stabilized a ruptured upper vertebra. Yet his condition remains critical. He has not regained full consciousness and continues to suffer from a hemorrhage that doctors have been unable to control. Family members described him speaking incoherently after the intervention. A head injury caused by the blow prompted his admission to the intensive care unit.
Attempted Homicide Claim Based on Video and Medical Evidence
The legal filing leans heavily on videos and witness testimony that Jaén says will serve as a foundation for prosecutors. In one widely shared recording, the agent pursues Llerena, kicks him down, and other officers close in, a sequence the defense presents as a deliberate act of extreme violence rather than a momentary loss of control. Medical records detail the spinal fracture and the neurological damage that followed.
Jaén told the Public Ministry that the nature of the injuries, combined with the manner in which the officer attacked, elevates the case beyond simple abuse of authority. He also framed the events as a crime against humanity, arguing it must not be subject to any statute of limitations. The complaint calls for criminal charges not just against the officer who struck Llerena but also against his superiors for allegedly allowing a repressive environment to fester within the municipal police force.
The mayor responded publicly on Tuesday, saying he regretted the incident and acknowledged that the conduct of the municipal police “was not exactly” what he expects from a force whose function should be deterrence, not aggression. But Jaén dismissed that explanation, insisting that officers act on orders from above.
“The mayor cannot come out now to say there was an excess on the part of the Municipal Police. He cannot justify it like that. The police act in response to what their superior dictates” [Translated from Spanish], the attorney said.
Illegal Detention Allegations and Conflicting Accounts
Beyond the assault, Jaén alleged that several former employees were held illegally for roughly ten hours. He said municipal police detained them from 2 p.m. until midnight without a judicial order, and family members had no information about their whereabouts.
“There was an illegal deprivation of liberty. No one knew where they had them. They were not allowed to communicate with their relatives” [Translated from Spanish], he stated.
The municipality offered a different version, reporting that two municipal police agents were also injured during the disturbance, though it provided few details. During a court hearing on Tuesday in the Calidonia Peace Court, magistrates issued verbal warnings to two former municipal workers who participated in the protest. Jaén sought to introduce evidence that one of them had visible facial injuries and requested a forensic medical evaluation, but the judge refused. The attorney claimed the city government attempted to portray the former workers as aggressors, a narrative he flatly rejects. “It’s the complete opposite. They were the aggressors. They are trying to justify the abuse of authority. We have the audios, the videos and the testimonial evidence that will prove they were the aggressors” [Translated from Spanish], he explained.
Mayor Mizrachi’s Police Force Faces Supreme Court Challenge
The clash over unpaid wages and the violent response has drawn renewed attention to the legality of the Municipal Police itself. Created in June 2025 through Agreement No. 162, the force was immediately controversial. Minister of Public Security Frank Ábrego filed a lawsuit seeking to annul the agreement, arguing that the municipal police operated unconstitutionally as a repressive body rather than a community-oriented service. On July 3, 2026, the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice admitted the challenge, setting up a constitutional showdown over the limits of local executive power.
Jaén said that the officers involved in Monday’s events acted as if they belonged to a repressive force and that their behavior was a direct consequence of the political climate that gave birth to the controversial police unit. With a criminal complaint now in the hands of the Public Ministry and a new set of additional complaints planned for Thursday, the attorney insisted that neither ethnic nor political considerations should slow the investigation.
“What we want is justice. Let those behind this act be punished. Neither ethnic nor political reasons should inhibit the Public Ministry from proceeding with criminal action” [Translated from Spanish], he added.
The case surrounding the ex-officials assaulted inside the Hatillo building now stands at the intersection of a labor dispute, a criminal investigation, and a broader legal battle over municipal policing. As Alberto Llerena remains in intensive care, the outcome will likely shape not just individual accountability for police violence but also the future of how Panama’s capital balances local authority with constitutional safeguards.