Briceño Administration Takes Ombudsman to Court Over FOIA Battle

The Government of Belize is taking the Ombudsman to court and it all started with a fight over transparency. Ombudsman Gilbert Swaso ordered the Attorney General to release details on legal fees tied to the redistricting case, after social activist Jeremy Enriquez filed a Freedom of Information request. That request was denied, so Enriquez turned to the Ombudsman, who ruled for partial disclosure. But the AG holding firm, he’s asking the court to throw out that decision. So, what’s behind this legal tug-of-war? Today, we spoke with Enriquez about the latest turn of events.

 

Jeremy Enriquez, Social Activist

“I was very alarmed that the prime minister has gone to lengths to try to shut down the request we have made for information with regards to the spending of government to attorneys and law firms to fight against the people’s quest for red visioning of electoral divisions in court. So we want to find how much money were spent and to who were these monies paid. It reveals the character of the prime minister and this government in their desperate effort to hide the information from the people of Belize, information that is actually calling for accountability and transparency to report to people, how the people’s money is being spent. And so this is a new precedent setting for the prime minister to also try to intimidate the Ombudsman, but to assert a kind of power that is corrupt and also trying to cover up so much of what they are doing.”