BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC -Prime Minister John Briceño says he expects to receive an updated report from Home Affairs Minister Kareem Musa on Friday as the controversy continues over the “abduction” of a Belizean national and his surrender to Guatemalan authorities.
Once I get that report, I will see what it presents and probably have to decide what the next step is,” Prime Minister Briceño said.
On August 24, the Belize Police Department stated that it had officially launched an investigation into an incident involving Budna, which occurred on August 22.
“The Policia Nacional Civil (PNC) of Guatemala has confirmed that Mr. Ryan Joseph Budna is in their custody pursuant to an arrest warrant; however, they have not disclosed the details surrounding his apprehension,” the police said, adding that its own investigation was initiated based on an official report filed by a witness to the event.
“The witness reported observing a confrontation involving several individuals, one of whom matched the description of Mr. Budna, who was subsequently placed into a dark-coloured SUV bearing a Belize City license plate,” the police added.
Prime Minister Briceño, in announcing that he has asked his Home Affairs Minister for an update on the situation, comes amid reports circulating here of an independent investigation into the matter, as Budna claimed that police officers here were behind his kidnapping.
Prime Minister Briceño stated that once he receives the report, “and I am telling you right now, if there is the need to name an independent investigation, I will do it, my government will do it.”
He said the return of Budna “was not sanctioned by the government of Belize. “We have nothing to do with it,” he added.
Several attorneys have now indicated a willingness to fight for Budna’s constitutional rights in Belize, with Arthur Saldivar telling reporters, “We all have a right to liberty and freedom of movement.
“So, where Mr. Budna was forcibly detained. In fact, before his detention, he was severely beaten and then spirited away. That is, in fact, not a crime, but a series of crimes. We saw the video; Belize has seen the video, which clearly shows that, in respect of the police department, there can be no ambiguity regarding the police’s involvement.
“We saw one police officer who, by his omission to act, implicated the department in what occurred with Mr. Budna. So the police department is responsible for a Belizean citizen being spirited away in an illegal and extrajudicial manner to a country that claims us,”
Saldivar said, adding that his colleagues have prepared legal documents to be filed before a court of law.
“It is sad that this is where we are. I know that for the general public, there is a belief that when persons are treated in a particular way, they have done something to warrant that kind of action. The truth of it is, it is never justified to exert that kind of physical violence on a person in any circumstance,” Saldivar said, noting that several government-owned buildings sit right in the area where Budna was abducted. Every one of them has surveillance cameras.
Prime Minister Briceño stated that he has not seen the video and that “the report from the police will shed light on all of that.”
Attorney Richard “Dickie” Bradley said that while he is no fan of Budna, there are questions regarding his removal from the country that need to be answered.
“That is the biggest issue. We are distracted and distracting ourselves over personality. He is, to put it mildly, an unpleasant person. We have to be proud of Belizeans. Nobody is supporting him for what he did and represents.
“He is a convicted criminal, and his conviction is of a terrible kind. So nobody can support that part. But we cannot be distracted over that to say, well, he is a dog, carry him, because something far worse would be involved,” Bradley added.
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