News Five Demands Release of Security Footage in Budna Case

This station is calling on the Belize Police Department to release surveillance footage from the Orange Walk area where Joseph Budna was abducted last Friday night. This demand comes in the name of transparency and accountability, amid serious allegations and unanswered questions surrounding Budna’s disappearance and subsequent ‘handover’ to Guatemalan authorities.

It has been nearly a week since Joseph Budna disappeared from Orange Walk and was later handed over to Guatemalan authorities following what his family calls a brazen abduction.

On the night of his disappearance, Budna was livestreaming in front of the Sandy Hunter Library. In audio recordings later shared from Melchor, Budna recounted the moments after he was seized. He said his first instinct was to run toward the Banquitas House of Culture, then to the nearby Orange Walk Police Station, but before he could get help, his captors caught up with him. When News Five visited the area, three surveillance cameras were observed that may hold crucial evidence. One was mounted above the National Bank of Belize ATM, another at the library’s entrance, and a third directly facing the Banquitas House of Culture, where Budna first attempted to escape.

Budna has since claimed that police officers were involved in his abduction.

Commissioner of Police Dr Richard Rosado strongly denied that allegation. “Let me be unequivocally clear, the police department was not involved in the apprehension or alleged extradition of Mr Budna,” Rosado said.

On Monday night, Budna’s mother, Katherine Williams, finally heard from her son. She said the phone call confirmed her fears about what took place. “He told me that he was doing a live by the police station in Orange Walk, and after he finished the live, he went there to be protected because the police were there, and instead of being protected, they did what they wanted to do; they wanted him. He said they shoved him in the vehicle, taped his eyes and mouth and threw him in the vehicle. He said some people were there that tried to help him, but nobody could help him. He said when they took the tape off his eye, he was in Arenal,” Williams explained.

On Tuesday, News Five visited Arenal Village, a unique bi-national community divided by the Belize–Guatemala border. A new bridge on the Guatemalan side now connects directly to Melchor, and authorities there have installed a heavily guarded checkpoint.

Williams expressed doubt about Belizean authorities’ response. “Well, that is all you hear on the news: that they investigate, investigate, investigate, investigate what they have already done. They are investigating themselves?”

Meanwhile, Budna’s SUV remains inside the Orange Walk Police Station compound while he is being held by Guatemalan police.

Budna is no saint. He is a convicted criminal. Once a fugitive in Guatemala, Budna is back behind bars in that country to serve a thirty-year kidnapping sentence after spending six years on the run. Budna’s criminal record spans decades. In Belize, he was convicted in 2000 for raping a male minor and later linked to robberies and detentions. In Guatemala, he was convicted in 2013 and 2014 for kidnapping and weapons trafficking, receiving sentences totaling more than fifty years. Despite multiple escape attempts, including one in 2019 that brought him back into Belize, he evaded capture for years.

Budna remained a controversial figure, denying he was a kidnapper, styling himself as a spiritual healer, and frequently clashing with police. He was questioned in a 2023 shooting that left a teenager dead and later charged with murder for a 2021 stabbing. He also faced accusations of cyberbullying.

Budna’s past convictions do not diminish the fact that serious questions remain about how he was abducted, how he crossed into Guatemala, and whether Belizean authorities were involved or failed in their duty to protect him while in their jurisdiction. The public has a right to know what happened, particularly because the alleged abduction occurred in the vicinity of a police station.

Releasing the videos would either confirm or refute allegations of police complicity. News Five has made the request to the Belize Police Department. We are still waiting for a response.