How the Budna Abduction Shreds "Due Process" — and Why It Demands an Independent, Public Inquiry

By: Omar Silva I Editor/Publisher

National Perspective Belize – Digital 2025

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Saturday 3rd September3, 2025

LEDE — Twelve days after Joseph Ryan Budna vanished in front of the Orange Walk Police Station, new security footage aired by 7News shows him chased, beaten on the sidewalk ~100 feet from the station, a uniformed officer briefly engages then walks away, and the victim is carried off while a blue Chevy Equinox circles the scene. The grainy but authenticated clip, together with a selfie video and injury paperwork from Guatemala, moves this case beyond rumor: what happened in the heart of Orange Walk looks like an abduction with police involvement or acquiescence — and a cross-border handover without due process.

The New Evidence

• The video sequence (redacted but authenticated by 7News) shows: pursuit near the courthouse/police station; a three-minute beating; a uniformed officer approaches, confers off-camera, then leaves; abductors carry Budna away; the Equinox departs. These visual facts contradict prior denials that no officer approached the incident.
• From jail, Budna’s account now matches the video: in a selfie clip, he describes being beaten by Belizean police and delivered at Arenal; 7News displayed Melchor medical forms noting injuries consistent with an assault.
• A named officer: From detention, Budna has identified PC Barry Flowers as the unmasked man in a white T-shirt at the Arenal football field hand-over. 7News says Flowers has not responded to calls/messages; in a private message cited by the station he denied involvement. This is a single-witness identification that must be tested against logs and native footage.
• Home Affairs Minister Kareem Musa now says the footage “leaves a lot to be answered,” publicly backs an independent investigation and calls for release of the original high-resolution CCTV so the public can “see exactly what happened.” He stresses that even a controversial citizen has constitutional rights and says, “two wrongs do not make a right.”

Where the Official Story Breaks

• Checkpoint & “no-police-involved” claims: Earlier statements from police leadership insisted no matching vehicle passed VCPs and downplayed on-scene police presence. The new footage shows a uniformed officer at the beating scene, and 7News reporting indicates Orange Walk’s OC received vehicle intel from Budna in advance. Those points cannot be reconciled without original DVRs, VCP logs, dispatch audio, and GPS.
• The Arenal gap: Budna says an Arenal officer peered into the vehicle and challenged the driver before the hand-over. If true, duty logs, radio traffic, and any bridge camera should fix time, unit, and plate/VIN and identify the hand-off.

What the Law Requires — and How This Broke It

Belize Constitution (Supreme Law):

• s.5 — Personal Liberty: No one may be deprived of liberty except by law; prompt judicial control is required. A violent street seizure and secret transfer across an international border is not an arrest “by law.”
• s.6 — Protection of the Law (Due Process): Any transfer to foreign custody requires lawful process and court oversight. Extradition is a court-supervised procedure, not a roadside hand-off.
• s.7 — Freedom from Inhuman or Degrading Treatment: The beating captured on video and the injuries documented on intake engage s.7 when state agents are involved or when police fail to prevent foreseeable harm steps from their station.

Extradition & Transfers (Why due process matters):

Belize’s Extradition Act 2023 governs surrender procedures; any lawful hand-over requires a Minister’s Authority to Proceed, arrest on a Belize warrant, and a court hearing where the person can challenge surrender. Officials have repeatedly stated Belize and Guatemala do not have a standing bilateral extradition treaty, so any cooperation must still move through formal, lawful channels — never a covert hand-off.

Bottom line: If the Equinox convoy was operated by police (or with their protection), and if Arenal logs show a delivery rather than a lawful apprehension, then s.5, s.6, and s.7 are all in play — plus potential criminal offenses (kidnapping, wounding, misconduct in public office) and disciplinary consequences.

What Must Be Released Now (to end the “he-said/they-said”)

• Original, unredacted CCTV with hashes — Courthouse, Library, Police-station perimeter, Banquitas House of Culture, National Bank — 7:45–10:15 p.m., Aug 22.
• BPD records (Orange Walk & HQ): station diary; dispatch/CAD; who was on duty; body-cam/dash-cam indexes; patrol GPS; VCP activation & vehicle-through logs; any stop/search of a blue Chevy Equinox that night.
• Arenal checkpoint: duty roster, logbook entries, any road/bridge camera stills; radio traffic around ~10:00 p.m.–1:00 a.m.
• Guatemala (PNC/MP): the acta de aprehensión (exact time/place/manner of custody), intake medical, and first-hearing minutes.
• MFA (Belize): any diplomatic notes/calls with Guatemala between Aug 22–24.

Why an Independent, Public Inquiry Is Unavoidable

Even the Minister of Home Affairs now endorses an independent investigation and public release of high-resolution DVRs. Anything less leaves Belizeans with a message that due process can be bypassed by force, especially against loud critics — a direct chill on freedom of expression and a blow to public trust.

The Timeline the State Still Can’t Explain

• Fri, Aug 22, ~9:00 p.m. — Confrontation & abduction outside OW Police Station (Hospital Crescent); uniformed officer appears, then leaves; victim carried away; Equinox seen.
• ~3 hours later — Arenal corridor: alleged checkpoint encounter; hand-over to Guatemala’s PNC. (Logs should confirm.)
• Aug 23–24 — Guatemala’s PNC confirms custody, but won’t say how/where the detention occurred.
• Sept 3 — Security video airs; Budna’s selfie video and injury forms surface; Musa backs an independent probe and release of DVRs.

“Questions That Deserve Answers” (run as a breakout box)

1. Who was the uniformed officer who approached then left? Was he interviewed, and where are his notes?
2. Which units/vehicles were logged around Hospital Crescent 8:45–10:00 p.m.?
3. What do VCP logs and GPS tracks show for vehicles matching a blue Chevy Equinox that night?
4. Did Orange Walk OC receive Budna’s vehicle intel before the attack, and what actions followed?
5. Who manned the Arenal checkpoint; what does the log say; where is the radio audio?
6. What does the Guatemalan acta list as the place and manner of custody?
7. If the state believes no officers were involved, why withhold the original high-res video?

Where This Heads If We Don’t Correct Course

If this is normalized, Belize signals that constitutional rights (ss.5–7) are optional when a citizen is inconvenient. That endangers all Belizeans and corrodes sovereignty by encouraging off-the-books cross-border “solutions.” The only credible route is sunlight: publish the footage, produce the logs, name the officers, and put the facts before an independent body in public.