…He is Expelled from Belize Forthwith

Audrey Matura-Shepherd

Just moments after Espinosa walked out of the court a free man; he was detained by police in reference to his immigration status in Belize. According to Matura-Shepherd, her client was ordered to leave the country within twenty-four hours or face immigration charges. Late this evening, with the assistance of the Nicaraguan Embassy, Espinosa has left the country.

Audrey Matura-Shepherd, Attorney for Silvio Espinosa

“When the judge gave his ruling that he will not admit the confession into evidence; that being the only evidence, the prosecution got up and said well you know we have no further evidence to offer and of course the defense said well there is no case to answer so he should be found not guilty. And thus, he was found not guilty and as such, the judge told him well you are free to go…you are no longer responding to these charges. You have been found not guilty of this charge or any other charges. However, the police quickly apprehended him because they said they wanted to know what was his immigration status. Now the truth I, my client was in this country legal all the time. However, when he went to prison, they took away his travel documents; there was no one to go stamp him in or anything. And so, they wanted to know what was his status…of course, fortunately his embassy stepped in immediately to sort that out and clearly his immigration status was at that time that his passport hasn’t been stamped—he’s technically illegal. However, because the authorities recognized that that’s no fault of his, they issued a leave order, for him to leave the country. And they gave him twenty-four hours within which to leave the country or otherwise they will bring charges of being here illegal. That’s a standard process I understand, but I must say the immigration department acted swiftly and they sorted that out and his embassy helped him.”