Attorney Blocked from Seeing Client; Prison Says SOE Rules Justify Action

A recent complaint by a local attorney, who said that he was denied access to his client at the Belize Central Prison, has sparked debate over the rights of detainees held under the current State of Emergency (SOE). Leeroy Banner claimed that his client’s right to legal representation was violated. However, the CEO of the Kolbe Foundation, Virgilio Murillo, has pushed back, asserting that the prison is operating within the law.

Murillo clarified the prison’s stance, citing the legal framework governing SOEs. “I’m not too sure if you have read the regulations governing SOEs,” he began. “All I can tell you is that while I am not a liar, I do have a proper command of the English language. And what I read in the regulations is that, you know, when people are detained and a detention order [is] signed by the minister, they’re not entitled to bail nor… not even the high courts can summon these [individuals] to be brought before them for anything whatsoever.”

Murillo said that the interpretation of the regulations has been consistently applied throughout multiple states of emergency. “That is what we have applied for every state of emergency that has taken place over the years,” he said. “Remember, SOE is nothing new to the prison. This is our 10th SOE, if you’re not tracking it. And, um, yeah, so we are too familiar with how we handle these things.”

He also noted that the particular detainee in question had no active criminal charges. “The particular individual that the attorney had asked to come and see had absolutely no criminal charges pending against him,” Murillo stated. “There was nothing criminal against him, so there was no legitimate reason for that attorney to come here—unless he wanted to come here and kinda ease his detention by spending half an hour with him.”

Murillo insists that the prison is acting in accordance with SOE regulations as interpreted by the institution.