So now, Prime Minister Briceno and the media house, LOVE FM and Love TV, have been ordered to pay Karen Bevans $90,000 in damages.
$60,000 of that amount is for compensatory damages, and the other $30,000 is for aggravated damages. Today, we asked Bevans' attorney to explain that aggravation.
He told us that it happened when they demanded an apology and retraction, and instead of doing so, the Prime Minister and members of his government sort of doubled down by suggesting that Bevans that she ought to backdown. For context, we re-air those aggravating comments that resulted in the increase in damages awarded to the claimant:
File: January 8, 2021
Hon. John Briceno - Prime Minister
"If Mrs. Bevans wants to sue me that's her right. As a Belizean citizen I stand by what I said, I don't think she wants to go to court, because when we set up all the evidence of what has happened during her time, it's not going to be a pretty picture and so I would hope that she decides not to go to court, but if she wants to go to court then that's her right and I support that."
Reporter
"She remains BTB director?"
Hon. John Briceno - Prime Minister
"Yes, she remains the director of BTB, with her $250,000 times 5, how much is that?"
Reporter
"A lot of money."
Hon. John Briceno - Prime Minister
"Over a million dollars she is going to collect at a time when one of the first things that she did in April was fired almost half of her staff, because she wanted to save money. So, I don't think she wants us to go down that road."
FILE: December 9, 2020
Hon. Eamon Courtenay, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"I hope Miss Bevans won't sue the Prime Minister. That would be a sad mistake. Think about it - 1.25 million dollars and you want to sue the Prime Minister. Let's not get it twisted too early in the day."
RT. Hon. Dean Barrow, SC - Attorney for Karen Bevans
"Clearly, was an aggravating feature together with the fact that we had ask for an apology, we didn't get it. Instead of apologizing, you as a judge put it and as we framed that in our submissions you double down and you in fact threaten the claimant with further damaging material, which we never did produce, because there was no such material. So that clearly was the principal basis for the judge's decision to in fact give this additional award for aggravated damages."
This evening, we contacted Prime Minister Briceno for comment, and he told us that he has intentions to appeal this judgment.
He was represented by Senior Counsel E. Andrew Marshalleck and Stacey Castillo, while Deshawn Arzu Torres represented RSV Media.
For Justice Westmin James this is his last judgement because he is about to leave the bench as a Supreme Court judge - his one year contract is at an end, and the authorities did not seem interested in granting him another.
