Case adjourned for former PM Musa
The case of Theft against former Prime Minister, Said Musa was called today in the Belmopan Magistrates’ Court. But the preliminary inquiry did not proceed because the defense team needed time to review the evidence provided to them only last Friday by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl-Lynn Branker-Tait. A period of fourteen days is required after disclosure for the Magistrate to proceed with the P.I. When we spoke with Lisa Shoman, one of Musa’s Attorneys today, she felt that the evidence which Branker-Tait has provided is weak.
Lisa Shoman, Attorney for Said Musa
“When we were last in court the D.P.P. told us and the Belizean public that she would be presenting disclosure very shortly. When she was in court she did tell the council that she would have had disclosure ready by the eighteenth of December. Not only did she not give us disclosure on the eighteenth, but the latest date when disclosure should have come would have been the twenty-third of December. The D.P.P. didn’t make that deadline either and she didn’t give disclosure until the second of January, which would have been last Friday, late in the evening so that therefore, the D.P.P. is out of time under the indictable act, she has to give Mr. Musa disclosure a clear fourteen days before the preliminary inquiry starts. Since she did not make that deadline, the Magistrate himself did not think it was prudent to proceed. So it wasn’t a matter of weather counsel was ready or the D.P.P. was ready, the magistrate himself felt that the best thing to do in those circumstances would be for us to set a date.”
“It really makes you wonder, Marion, because if you recall when the D.P.P. was questioned by the media on the last occasion, she was really pressed seriously about the quality of her evidence, about what she was charging Mr. Musa with and what she told the media was that she had spent months studying the evidence and that she had looked through all the documents and that she had taken her time because she wanted to be very clear about what Mr. Musa was being charged with. Having said that then, you and the general public would be entitled to believe that we would have received a substantial stock of documents. Well, I’m here to tell you, Marion, there is only three statements that have been given in disclosure and two of those statements are made by the prime minister himself and his C.E.O., Ms. Audrey Wallace and have to do with a private conversation held between Mr. Musa and himself. And the other—both of those statements were given, that is a conversation that took place in March of last year; early March between Mr. Musa and Mr. Barrow. The statements were in fact not given by Mr. Barrow nor Ms Wallace until early in November and in fact, interestingly enough, only days before, the Guardian carried a big headline trumpeting that Mr. Musa would be charged. If that is not worrisome enough, the third statement which rounds out the disclosure was given by the former C.E.O. in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Amalia Mai, but that statement is very short and it was not given until after Mr. Musa was charged. So it certainly would cause the public to wonder what is all this evidence that the D.P.P. says she was studying. We were, quite frankly, taken aback, a little surprised. We would have thought that there would be quite an a mountain of documents for us to sieve through and, as I say, it is a very skimpy disclosure and certainly Mr. Musa’s assertions that what he did, was very straightforward and it can be understood clearly that it is not theft, is something that the public will have to weigh against the paucity of evidence in this case.”
Marion Ali
“You will make submissions—you and your colleagues—at the next hearing?”
Lisa Shoman
“Of course we will and the magistrate did ask in fact, Senior Counsel, Mr. Edwin Flowers, who is lead attorney, if we would be making submissions and our lead attorney put the court and the D.P.P. on notice that we would be making certain submission with regard to the evidence that was given to us as disclosure.”
Marion Ali
“Would one of those submissions be that the case be withdrawn or struck out at this level?”
Lisa Shoman
“Well, what we would do is to invite the Magistrate to look at whether the case is sufficiently borne out because the magistrate’s function is very important; he has to act as a filter as to what is good case, what is a reasonable case, and what has been made out. You see Mr. Musa doesn’t have to, at this stage, do anything; it is the D.P.P. who must bring forward what is called a prima facie case, a real case and she is the one who must meet that standard. Certainly that will be one of the points; if it’s even a case that is fit to be taken to the Supreme Court. But, as I say, when two out of the three witnesses that you have, have to do with statements that were made in private conversation that was had six months before any statement was given, it certainly makes you wonder. So I think those are the things that Belizeans will want to look at and bear in mind as we move forward in this. Mr. Musa has always said that he believes that this trial has political motivations and I think one must take that into account and listen to it seriously, particularly with the quality of the disclosure that has been given to us.”
Musa was charged on December fourth of last year and the new date set for the P.I. is now January twenty-ninth. The defense has indicated that they will make submissions that same day. Aside from Shoman, Musa’s legal team includes Arthur Saldivar, Kevin Arthurs, John Saldivar, Francis Fonseca, Anthony Sylvestre Junior, Karim Musa with Edwin Flowers as Lead Counsel.
