AG Demands Public Apology from John Briceno for Drug Plane Comment

So while Government is yet to provide a copy of the Hernandez contract to the Chamber, Government’s chief legal officer Michael Peyrefitte is demanding that Opposition Leader John Briceño apologizes for comments he made during his New Year’s address last week.  Allegations were made by the P.U.P. leader that ranking government officials were involved in the landing of drug planes across the country.  The Attorney General gave Briceño twenty-four hours to produce the evidence to support his claim; that timeframe has expired and Briceño didn’t budge.  Today, AG Peyrefitte called on Briceño to apologize to the nation.

Isani Cayetano

“The twenty-four hour period that you had given the Leader of the Opposition has long since elapsed and there doesn’t seem to be any evidence forthcoming.  Where do we stand insofar as the allegations that he made in his New Year’s address?”

Michael Peyrefitte

Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney General

“Well it proves that he will make any desperate statement, however untrue, simply to try and create some momentum for his political party but I think it was very, very irresponsible of the Leader of the Opposition to claim that there were officials high up in the government facilitating the landing of drug planes and then provide no evidence to show on what basis he made that claim.  I believe that he has no basis for making that claim or he would have brought that evidence to show that he had legitimate reasons for making that claim.  I think he ought to be ashamed of himself.  I think he owes the National Assembly and the officials from the U.D.P. an apology.  He owes this nation an apology because those U.D.P. officials, or all U.D.P. officials, since U.D.P. is in government, represent the entire country of Belize, so when you claim that government officials are facilitating the landing of drug planes, you are bashing Belize, you’re bashing the nation and I think that the Leader of the Opposition needs to apologize for his reckless comments, his irresponsible comments, because you cannot make those comments if you don’t have proof of what you’re saying and that’s my position on that.”