Budna Sues Government of Belize Over Alleged Abduction and Torture

A major lawsuit has just landed in the Senior Courts of Belize, and it’s targeting some of the country’s top officials. Among those named are Attorney General Anthony Sylvestre, Home Affairs Minister Kareem Musa, and Police Commissioner Dr. Richard Rosado, along with eight law enforcement officers. The seventy-four-page claim, filed on September sixteenth by attorneys Arthur Saldivar, Michelle Trapp, and Emmertice Anderson, is on behalf of social media commentator Joseph Budna. Budna, who’s currently behind bars in Guatemala, says he was abducted here in Belize, beaten, and then handed over to Guatemalan authorities without due process. The lawsuit accuses the officials of unlawful arrest, torture, and what Budna calls a forced expulsion from Belize. It’s a serious case that could have major implications for law enforcement and government accountability. Here’s News Five’s Isani Cayetano with the full story.

 

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

Joseph Ryan Budna, has filed a constitutional motion in the High Courtalleging that he was unlawfully arrested, tortured, and forcibly expelled from Belize to Guatemala in what he describes as a state-sponsored extrajudicial rendition.

 

Arthur Saldivar, Attorney-at-law

“Once Budna arrived in Belize the methodology that was required to get him back to serve his time in Guatemala had to have been between the governments of Belize and Guatemala on an official channel. It should not have been a clandestine or extrajudicial process that returned him. So it’s the extrajudicial process that we are taking umbrage with, not the fact that he’s there serving his time. He should have been there serving his time from the time that he was convicted, he should not have escaped or been allowed to escape. The Guatemalans slipped up and that happened. It was not our responsibility to break the law ourselves to take him back. It was their responsibility to seek legal means for his return.”

 

According to the motion, Budna, a well-known social media commentator, claims that on August twenty-second and twenty-third, 2025, he was kidnapped by Belizean police officers, beaten severely, and handed over to Guatemalan authorities without any legal process. He names eleven defendants, including the Attorney General, Minister of National Security Kareem Musa, Commissioner of Police Dr. Richard Rosado, and several senior police officers. Budna alleges that these officials violated multiple sections of the Constitution of Belize, including his rights to liberty, protection of the law, freedom of expression, and protection from torture. Budna’s affidavit details a chilling sequence of events. He recounts being followed by a suspicious vehicle, reporting it to police, and later being ambushed near the Orange Walk Police Station. He says he was beaten with a firearm, blindfolded, and driven to the Arenal border, where he was handed over to Guatemalan police.

 

Arthur Saldivar

“We have, in our country, a constitution that governs us. It is underpinned by the rule of law, and the rule of law dictates that all our citizens are to be treated equally and given equal protection. So where it is that we find a situation so blatant, so brazen, broad daylight, happening and the authorities are at fault, there must be accountability for it. It cannot simply be a corporal getting fired. In this situation, from what I saw, a member of the SPU, a member of the Special Branch, and a regular corporal from the ranks worked together to commit a crime against a citizen in broad daylight. Them being fired is not the answer. Who gave the instruction ought to be held responsible.”

 

The motion argues that this act constitutes a breach of Belize’s obligations under international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights, and the Convention Against Torture. Budna is seeking: Declarations of constitutional violations; Orders for his return to Belize; an official inquiry; Disciplinary action against the officers involved; and compensatory, vindicatory, aggravated, and exemplary damages. The case is expected to be heard in the Supreme Court in the coming weeks.

 

On the Phone: Dean Barrow, Former Prime Minister

“The political directorate, particular members of the political directorate, and the political directorate generally, must be held accountable for what has happened. Look, remember there was a case some twenty-odd years ago when a similar thing happened, except that the person was hustled onto a plan and taken to the US, where at least there was the notion that, well, there would be fair play. You abduct a Belizean citizen and send the Belizean citizen to Guatemala?”

Meanwhile, Budna remains in a Guatemalan prison, recovering from injuries he says were inflicted during the ordeal. Isani Cayetano for News Five.