Joseph Budna Speaks After Murder Abetment Arrest

On Friday, Joseph Budna was granted High Court bail after being remanded to the Belize Central Prison for abetment to commit murder. The charge stems from the 2021 murder of fifty-one-year-old Armando Coy Cacao in Belmopan. Budna was represented by attorney Arthur Saldivar. One of the conditions of his bail is that he cannot speak publicly about his arrest or any matter surrounding the arrest. So, when Budna spoke with the media today, he simply thanked the justice system. He also wanted us to know that he is being cyberbullied. He claims that a prison guard took a picture of him while he was on remand as part of security procedure. But, that photo of a shirtless Budna has since been leaked on social media. And, though he did not shy away from showing the image to our cameras, he is questioning the credibility of the prison guards who took the picture.

 

Joseph Budna, On Bail for Abetment to Murder

“Thank God I am out. Gid is great and he will stand by those who is doing what is right. So, I got my bail, thank God for that, the justice system was at least fair to grant me bail. Each and every one is innocent until proven otherwise. That is the bail for the abetment to murder.”

 

Reporter

“So your attorney had to file for that?”

 

Joseph Budna

“Yes my attorney had to file for bail application and it was granted by the Court, nonetheless I will not go into any details on the matter because it has been restricted by the court to make comments publicly concerning the case itself.”

 

Paul Lopez

“You are taking offense to an image that seems to have been taken behind bars of you, can you give us some details about that image?”

 

Joseph Budna

“In regards of the picture that was taken of me inside the Kolbe Foundation facility while I was in isolation, restricted from phone calls, restricted from communicating with anyone, I believe they would have allowed me to communicate with an attorney. This was done in the name of having me on observation; the observation they had me on was unnecessary, but that was according to the prison authorities. Now, you come to my cell and take photographs of authority dressed in black and say Mr. Budna we need a photo of you so that we can send to our chief executive officer who command us to take the photo sot hey can know you was alive. No problem, I will comply. I never knew that that photograph was taken for other activity. I know it is being circulated on other social media pages and it is causing quite a bit of distress on my behalf.”