News Five Presses Police for Answers, Transparency in Budna’s Case

News Five is still asking: how did Joseph Budna’s kidnappers move him from Orange Walk all the way to Arenal Village without anyone noticing? And who exactly was involved? There are even allegations that police officers played a role, claims the department strongly denies. Police say surveillance footage shows a scuffle involving four people, one believed to be Budna. But here’s the problem: what authorities are saying and what the public believes are miles apart. The easiest way to clear the air? Release the footage. We’ve asked for it, in the name of transparency. Paul Lopez has the details.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Tonight, there are more questions than answers involving the abduction of Joseph Budna on Friday night, near the Orange Walk Police Station. News Five isn’t just asking, we’re demanding answers. In the name of transparency, we’re calling on police to release that surveillance footage. It’s time to clear the air and let the public see the facts for themselves.

 

Dr. Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police

“What we have seen from initial investigation and the camera footage, initially the information we are getting was several descriptions of several vehicles.”

Reporter

“What has the security video shown from Orange Walk?”

 

Dr. Richard Rosado

“Investigators have been reviewing several video footage and what we do know is that there was a confrontation around four individuals, one of them fit the description of Jospeh Bunda, who was placed in a, it appears to be a car.”

We visited the location where Budna disappeared on Friday night. One camera in particular, the one mounted on the Banquitas House of Culture, captures a clear view of the street right in front of the building. This is the general area where Budna’s abductors took him.

 

Voice of: Joseph Budna, Fugitive

“I was kidnapped on the Friday gone just in front of the Orange Walk police station by four police officers who identified themselves as police who identified themselves as police. Orange Walk police run out and heard I was shouting for help. And, as a result of I shouting for help I was hit in the head, gun but, my mouth was tapped and handcuffed and I was dashed inside a light blude SUV.”

 

Budna claims that police were involved in his abduction and transportation to Arenal Village. The Commissioner of Police, Doctor Richard Rosado, has refuted these allegations. This has led to a great deal of speculations and an erosion of trust in the department to properly investigate the incident. Budna might be a wanted man in Guatemala, but here in Belize, on home soil, he’s still entitled to certain rights as a Belizean.

 

Dr. Richard Rosado

“The investigation is ongoing at this moment, and we are hoping the investigation will be able to reveal what transpired.”

 

This morning, in the name of accountability, News Five pressed for an update on the investigation, and we didn’t stop there. We also called on police to release the surveillance video that ComPol Rosado himself referenced. But so far, the department has met those requests with silence. And that’s not all, we had other tough questions too. Who is heading the investigation and what officers make up the investigative team? Did Guatemalan authority carry out a covert operation in Belize? Was Belizean authorities complicit in organizing the surrender of Joseph Budna to Guatemalan authorities in Arenal? And, who alerted authorities in Guatemala that Budna would be in Arenal Village and the time they detained him?

 

Voice of: Jospeh Budna

“Belizean authorities, Belizean police came out of the vehicle and handed me over to the Guatemalans through that area on the football field at Arenal.”

 

Dr. Richard Rosado

“Anybody can make allegations and I would want you to allow the investigative process to take its course and whatever we uncover we will share with the media, but our investigation has not revealed that any police has approached those individuals, and it was shown in the camera that the altercation was among four individuals, one who appear to be Jospeh Budna.”

 

Releasing that surveillance footage could put all the rumors to rest and clear up the misinformation that’s been swirling around. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.