One weekend before, he was crowned best poet at the Belize Entertainment Awards, but over this past weekend, Kenny Morgan could have won the award for "best prisoner" as he spent the weekend in jail.
At 1:00 on Saturday morning, the 43 year old was arrested on a warrant for disorderly behavior as he left the Bliss Center. The charge arose from earlier in the day when Morgan disrupted the house sitting to vent at the members on the government side. The police said he was "inciting violence" but his arrest incited something else altogether, as Morgan became a 'cause celebre' over the weekend, and only 7NEWS was there in Belmopan when he got free. Keith Swift has the story.
Keith Swift Reporting, [From Belmopan City]
It was an active Friday for Kenny Morgan. It started at the National Assembly when he made this now infamous, unveiled threat about a grenade in the house.
Kenny Morgan,
[As he is being escorted from house gallery: 'You dah the criminal bwoy. You lucky I don't have a grenade.']
After going outside and hollering more threats at the government members inside the chamber, Morgan went from grenade-wanting militant to gracious emcee when he hosted the Lord Rhaburn music awards show at the Bliss.
Kenny Morgan,
[Shouting: 'You answer to the law or the lawless because…']
But as he left the awards show around midnight, he was arrested and detained at the Queen Street police station. After opposition leader Dean Barrow failed in his attempts to get him bailed on Saturday, on Sunday, the UDP gathered outside to make their protest known - encouraging drivers-by to blow their horns in shared outrage. There was even live slam poetry on Queen's street.
Erwin Jones, Poet
[Holding Placard to free Kenny Morgan: 'Nuff black people di suffer out yah. Life hard out yah.']
But at the end of the day it was all for show because Morgan had already been transferred to Belmopan where the stage was set for him this morning.
It is about an hour before the Monday session starts here at the Magistrate's court in Belmopan but this is no regular Monday morning. The entire perimeter of the court is cordoned off and guarded; there are three senor police officers including the commissioner and an assistant commissioner on the scene, and operational elements of the Anti-Drug Unit with batons.
But the morning would be anti-climatic. Without incident, interruption, or flocks of followers, Morgan, still wearing the clothes he hosted the awards show on Friday night in, was escorted from the police station over to the courthouse by two uniformed officers and flanked by his supporters including Cayo South area rep. John Saldivar. His arraignment for disorderly conduct took all of 2 minutes and 10 minutes later, he was finally a free man after 58 hours in lockdown.
Kenny Morgan,
"From they picked me up Friday night after the Lord Rhaburn show I haven't had the opportunity to take a shower and change my clothes, I have been in police custody since then. So right now believe me I need to go take a shower and get in some fresh clothes. Its not a matter of blade-up, its not a matter of choice, its compulsory. Same clothes from Friday night." [Laughs]
He emerged happy to be free but defiant and adamant that on Friday he did nothing wrong and was simply exercising this right to free speech.
Kenny Morgan,
"As a citizen of Belize I have a constitutional right to stage a protest and that is what I was in the process of doing and I am not intimidated. I will not stop. I will not be deterred. The process must continue until the message is driven home and the appropriate response is garnered."
Keith Swift,
The police say disrupted the House of Representatives with your comment on the grenade and you basically threatened members of the House including the Speaker. You don't think there is anything wrong with doing that?
Kenny Morgan,
"I haven't been charged with threatening words, I have been charged for disorderly conduct and disorderly behavior outside the House. No charges have been leveled against me for anything that took place inside the House."
Keith Swift,
Would you have done anything differently looking back at your actions on Friday?
Kenny Morgan,
"I think I would have held on to the railing and maybe force them to take a little longer to remove me. I think I moved a little bit too quickly from the House but the message got across and if the same opportunity arose again tomorrow I would have no problem in doing it again."
And that is why Commissioner of Police Jose Zetina who made a rare Monday morning appearance at the Magistrate's Court for Morgan's arraignment says he made the decision to arrest Morgan because he broke the law.
Jose Zetina, Commissioner of Police
"No its not a political decision to arrest Morgan, it's my decision to arrest him. He committed himself as far as I am concerned and I made the decision. As you know I was out of the country when the incident happened and I returned back the same day that it happened and upon being briefed I made the decision."
Keith Swift,
Couldn't you have also made a decision to release Morgan on signed bail for this relatively minor offense instead of keeping him in lockdown the entire weekend?
Jose Zetina,
"Well that was a discretion on my part and I decided not exercise that discretion. My point is that a serious, what you call it, disrespect had occurred in the House of Representatives and if you treat it like any other offense of a petty nature it would send the correct signal to the people. Morgan as you know has been committing himself all the time, through the airwaves, trying to incite civil disobedience; creating what would be tantamount to civil disobedience in the country."
Keith Swift,
Commissioner but most people would say that's just free speech; his freedom.
Jose Zetina,
"Everybody has a freedom. You know I have a freedom as the Commissioner of Police but my thing is you cannot step out of line and commit yourself by violating the law."
But attorney Dean Lindo who is one of 3 senior counsels who rushed to Belmopan this morning to defend Morgan differs. He says Morgan did nothing wrong on Friday and the police can't charge him for all the comments he made in the past.
Dean Lindo, Senior Counsel
"If it's a threat he couldn't carry it out so in fact it wasn't because he said he didn't have it. I didn't hear him but I understand he said 'if I had it.' Then that disposes of the whole thing and it doesn't have the force of a threat; it can't have the force of a threat. Quite frankly, I am flabbergasted I guess like everybody else. I mean for a simple charge like this that they should have this man deprived of his liberty because what they did was deprive him of his liberty over the whole weekend in the police place. Its unbelievable and all this big circling the court and all this security…I just don't understand it; I cannot conceive."
And while the motives for the arrest will differ based on who you talk to, the one certainty is that Kenny Morgan who returned to Belize City clutching a picture of Phillip Goldson during a motorcade through the downtown area - has been given a very public pulpit and clearly plans to preach. The question now is if the security forces and government have an answer for Morgan: the martyr.
Morgan was released on signed bail of $850 plus one surety in the same Amount. He is due back in the Belmopan Magistrate's Court on January 11th. And after his motorcade through downtown Belize City, Morgan finally got that shower but no rest was on his itinerary. This afternoon the United Democratic Party called a press conference at the Radisson where to a room full of supporters and the media, the party's hierarchy huddled around Morgan as he recounted in great detail what happened. Here are some highlights.
Kenny Morgan,
"I was approached by Corporals Rivero and Molina: 'excuse me Mr. Morgan we want to see you.' So I told man them well if you promise not to get blind, I promise not to get invisible. The men said they wanted to see me. They said they needed me to go with them to the police station."
"I found myself in police custody on Friday night until Monday morning for such a minor offense. On his third visit Mr. Barrow communicated to me a very strange message coming from the commissioner of police Carmen Zetina. The message was that Mr. Zetina being on his way to the wedding of one of Said Musa's sons on Saturday, wanted to know if Mr. Barrow could persuade me...Mr. Barrow would write the letter and I would sign it apologizing to the Speaker of the House, Ralph Fonseca, and Said Musa."
"He insisted 'bring Mr. Morgan so I can talk to him personally.' They came and got me out of the holding cell in the presence of Mr. Barrow, Mr. Zetina, myself, and a senior police officer Mr. Chester Williams. Mr. Zetina then came and made the offer to me personally under the guise of: 'its not nothing me real important, its just a slight little apology which won't mean anything and if you sign it off then you can get released right away and we will see about dropping the charges.' Now here is a Commissioner of Police attempting to circumvent the legal process, the law of the land. Does he have the authority to do that? I think not."
Hon. Dean Barrow, Opposition Leader
"Mr. Zetina's attempt to bribe Mr. Morgan, as Sharon has pointed out, apart from being entirely wrong for a Commissioner of Police, is also a violation of his office, of his trust, and a complete confusion in the principle of separation of powers. How can you as police commissioner, having already charged the man, determine whether he is to be punished or not? In fact what Mr. Zetina did was to confirm Mr. Morgan's entitlement to bail."
This morning Morgan was handed a letter signed by Police Commissioner Jose Zetina warning him about "your repeated inflammatory statements, suggestions, and remarks on public radio and the streets regarding certain issues with a view to incite unlawful civil disobedience," which is illegal. The letter concludes with a warning that "your conduct in this regard will be closely monitored by the police department." Strong words, but Morgan is unapologetic and undeterred, he says he will continue to be outspoken and it continues on Wednesday when in one form or another he will be at the first public hearing by the Senate Select Committee probing the Social Security Board. We note that this morning after court and this afternoon's press conference, Morgan stressed that at all times he was treated fairly and with courtesy while in police custody.