The Bladen 12, the biggest drug trial of the young century in Belize started today in the Belize City magistrates court. But, the court house is still under repairs and the panel of 12 accused men along with their attorneys could not fit into the temporary court at Coney Drive, So they were moved to the family court building at the CB Hyde building on Mahogany street. And that's where the media was locked out, barred from entering the courtroom. We discovered that no press would be allowed in the courtroom because it's in the family court building where the press is not permitted to witness cases.
That meant all the media was kept outside the courtroom.
That forced 7News along with Krem TV to speed over to the magistrates court and ask the Chief Magistrate for her urgent intervention. More on that later but back to what happened in court which we got a recap from attorney for four of the accused, Oscar Selgado.
Oscar Selgado, Attorney
"The 12 defendants that are accused alleged to have been involved in the importation of illicit drugs into the country and for the landing of an aircraft into an illegal airdrome in 2021 has begun this morning and we have moved from the official venue of the court on coney drive to the Charles Bartlett building on mahogany street extension and this is because the court on coney drive is small and it cannot accommodate the amount of defendants nor the five defense attorneys plus the prosecutors in this matter so the court had asked for the assistance of the family court department that has graciously allowed us to use this building. The reason the media was not allowed in this morning is because nobody had or the prosecution nor the court had informed the family court that the media would have wanted to be here and the court just had concerned because the area that we are using is the third floor of the Charles Bartley building and this is an administrative area it is a staff only area so that there was no security set in place to escort the media up and down into and out of the court but that has been cleared up the learned senior magistrate has indicated that the media is to be allowed. These are public hearings. These hearings are to be done in the public domain so the media is allowed to come back on Monday the 12th where the trial will continue."
"The court has asked from certain defense attorneys whether or not we will start with a voider because two caution statements were solicited and were granted from two defendants so i believe we will start with a voider to see whether or not those caution statements will be admitted into evidence."
There are four attorneys involved including Dickie Bradley, Lindon Jones and Leroy Banner. It's a trial scheduled for 15 days and 60 witnesses are set to be called. On November 5th 2021 a plane was intercepted on the southern highway near Bladen with 1,682 pounds of cocaine and 5 guns. 12 persons including 4 police officers were charged. We'll keep following the trial when it resumes next Monday. The clerk for the Chief Magistrate has called to confirm that the press will be permitted inside the courtroom when the case resumes next Tuesday.
