BELMOPAN, Belize, Jun 2, CMC -Attorney Michael Peyrefitte is threatening civil charges against the Belize government after his client, Alberto August, a former chairman of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) was detained last weekend over a social media post.
“I can assure you that there will be civil charges against the government. Alberto will sue the government for this, and he should,” said Peyrefitte, a former attorney general.
Police detained August and accused him of spreading false information in a satirical comment on line in what was intended to be poking fun at the Home Affairs Minister, Oscar Mira, regarding his controversial statements about the double murder of two people in the city.
Mira in a lengthy Facebook post, said he would use every legal option available to make sure August is held accountable.
The issue has raised concerns about free speech, political satire, and how far Belize’s Cybercrime Act can go.
Assistant Superintendent of Police, Stacy Smith, speaking at the weekly news conference, told reporters that she doesn’t know that the procedure that was undertaken in the case of Mr. August was an anomaly.
“I am sure that there were other instances that the matter was dealt with similarly. So I don’t know it to be a strange occurrence when it comes to investigation. You stated that he was detained and an interview was conducted, and that is a part of the process that is done,” she told reporters.
August, who is accused of cyber bullying, said that while he considers himself to “be strong but if the intention of the minister was to humiliate me and to cause anxiety and stress for my family, he succeeded.
“He succeeded in doing that because the trauma that my partner went through, my friend, is unbelievable. Unbelievable what he put them through. I have basically recovered. Not fully recovered because, the police still have confiscated my telephones. In fact, they have confiscated everything that I have here that operates electronically, even make my clock,” he added.
Peyrefitte said that the arrest goes far beyond a simple dispute over a Facebook post.
“The People’s United Party (PUP) are so drunk with their power that it has gotten to the point where not only are they abusing the public with their policies, with their corruption, with their stances on different things, we have gotten to the point where we seriously cannot even criticize these people.
“You you cannot even have an opinion if that opinion is going to hurt the feelings of some tender minister who cannot handle being criticized or being mocked, which… or being ridiculed, which is a part of being in government,” Peyrefitte said.
“What the PUP did over the weekend is scary because they are saying that, “If I don’t like your criticism of me, I will lock you up,” plain and simple,” he added.
CMC/ah/ir/2026