Yesterday, we told you about the unusual paragraph in the Cabinet brief which said that Cabinet was closely monitoring complaint of rape against a prominent attorney.
Now, the executive of the country doesn't normally announce that it is monitoring criminal investigations led by the police and the DPP.
So why look at this one? Is it because a former UDP politician stands accused?
We asked Minister Henry Charles Usher about it this evening:
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service, Political & Constitutional Reform
"Certainly, cabinet cannot influence in any way if any charges will be brought against the individual. But I believe the discussion came out of more the social media blogs that are operating as though they are media outlets."
"And that was the more general discussion where they have to be regulated, just like any media house is regulated. These sites seem to pop up overnight. There's no regulations. They don't seem to have any accountability to anyone."
"They publish articles, blogs, whatever you want to call them, that it seems that they are untouchable. And I believe that's where the discussion came out. Certainly, that blog having to do, showing the video from the night of the incident, talking about the individuals, the persons, the virtual complainants, that borders on witness intimidation."
"It also creates an environment where other women, other girls may not want to come forward if this happens because they fear that they might be blasted on one of these social media outlets. So that's where the discussion came out and that's where Cabinet's focus is on, to make sure that they have some kind of regulations in place."
"The Belize Broadcasting Authority had created a policy last year and it spoke about regulating these sites. We hope that the legislation comes out."
