Superintendent Edward Broaster Sues Attorney Oscar Selgado for Defamation

Luis Campos

Earlier this month, twenty-three-year-old Luis Campos was arraigned along with two other men for the murder of a cabdriver in San Pedro.  His arrest was not without controversy however, as attorney Oscar Selgado came forward a few days later alleging police brutality.  During an interview with News Five on May sixth, Selgado charged that Senior Superintendent Edward Broaster physically abused Campos while in police custody.  Campos’ lawyer then went on to make a number of accusations against the veteran officer.  Well, the news tonight is that Broaster is suing Selgado for defamation of character.  According to Broaster, while Campos was indeed pepper sprayed when he attempted to resist arrest, he was never beaten at the hands of the police.  Broaster tells News Five that Selgado fabricated the details of Campos’ arrest.

Sr. Supt. Edward Broaster, Accused of Police Brutality

“Well first of all I want to say that when that allegation was made I contacted my attorney Mikhail Arguelles who had written to this station and Mr. Selgado.  I want to say that we appreciate the opportunity that your station reached out to us and we view this as a good faith apology.  As it pertains to Mr. Selgado, he has not responded to my attorney and my attorney will be lodging a claim for defamation of character.”

Edward Broaster

Isani Cayetano

“Mr. Selgado also asserts that during the detention of Mr. Campos he was spirited away from the holding cell in San Pedro and taken to an undisclosed location where he was further physically abused.  Can you explain to us what actually happened with the apprehension and the detention of Mr. Campos for suspicion of murder?”

Sr. Supt. Edward Broaster

“Well I want to state that when we were searching for Mr. Luis Campos I had never ever made any mention of the fabrication that attorney Selgado stated on the newscast.  I had never spoken about killing anyone.  When we initiated contact with Luis Campos in a house in the San Juan area or San Mateo I believe, he was pepper sprayed because he resisted apprehension.  He was subdued and he was taken into custody.  I know of no beating, he was not spirited away by what Mr. Selgado is stating.  As a matter of fact, I’ve been the champion of anti-police brutality.  I made a commercial about Not In My City, Police Brutality: Not In My City and we have been working tirelessly in bringing about the professionalism in our department in terms of having the police act professionally towards the public and ensure that we build that relationship with the public.  Mr. Selgado also stated that I served under him and there’s no way under this sun that I had served under Mr. Selgado.  Mr. Selgado is a Belize Defense Force, was a Belize Defense Force soldier and unless there was a martial law in Belize then he must be dreaming and I am definitely sure that I didn’t serve under him.  Any anti-drug operation or strike that we did jointly the police takes the lead.”

Oscar Selgado

Isani Cayetano

“Where does this allegation come from, in your opinion?  Is this something that is personal?  Is it a malicious attempt to defame your character as a career police officer?”

Sr. Supt. Edward Broaster

“Well he already defamed my character and he will have to explain to the court where he got that wild fabrication from because that’s what it is, a wild fabrication.  At this time and age I am a professional, I am a senior officer.  Had he said a junior officer had done that maybe it would have been plausible but to come and suggest that Senior Superintendent Edward Broaster made those statement is a total fabrication by Mr. Selgado and I don’t know what motivated him to say such things.”

Isani Cayetano

“And this arrest of Mr. Campos was done in the presence of several officer from Belize City, Eastern Division.  Can you expand on that?”

Sr. Supt. Edward Broaster

“There were several officers from Eastern Division, including my boss Ms. Deziree Phillips who was on that operation.  As a matter of fact, she came to visit us in San Pedro on that said day and we had the coastguard who were working along with us also on that day.”