Duo to be Tried for False Nationality Certificates

Marcos Basto

Two men, one from San Pedro and the other from Corozal, will have to stand trial at the Supreme Court for thirteen counts of possession of false documents in respect of nationality certificates. Forty-two-year-old Marcos Basto and thirty-one-year-old Mark Antonio Rosales were charged back in November 2015; and today a preliminary inquiry determined they are to stand trial in the Supreme Court, which begins session on June twentieth.   Basto who has been granted bail of two thousand dollars by the lower court was allowed to go home, but Rosales whose bail was revoked in April of this year, was remanded back to prison since he had not been showing up for trial and is now viewed as a flight risk.

Mark Antonio Rosalez

When he was asked by Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith why he had not been showing up, Rosales said that his life was being threatened and that he reported the matter to the San Ignacio Police Station but they never took him serious. Neither is expected to call any alibi witness to speak on their behalf since they said they had no alibi for the offense they are charged him. But the Prosecutor in the case, Corporal Kennard Clark is relying on as many as ten witness as well as exhibits in the form of caution statements from both accused men including twelve nationality certificates.