Failure of riot act does not leave rioters off the hook

Justice Blackman also found it necessary to clear the air today about a misunderstanding in the print and broadcast media that the riot act read by police at Tower Hill was void and that rioters could not be charged for their wrongdoing. He said that title fourteen of the Criminal Code of Belize specifies a process for the proclamation of a riot and from the evidence the commission received from Superintendent Gerald Westby who read the act, the proper procedure was not followed.

Christopher Blackman

“In order for charges to be made under the criminal code of Belize, title fourteen, for a prosecution to succeed, there must a full compliance with the requirements of the act. In the absence of a compliance with the provisions of title fourteen of the criminal code, it is the opinion of the commission that charges for rioting may not appropriate. However, it is open to the police to proffer other charges under the other provisions of the criminal code, which will be less than the serious charges of rioting. But what has come about, is that generally speaking, most of the police officers and indeed even the people in the Belize Defence Force, do not have a proper appreciation of the requirements of the criminal code, so far as what constitutes a riot and what has to be done in order to call on people to disperse. There is no way that this commission purported to say the riot act is void or illegal. That’s not a mandate and in fact that’s not the position.”

Ann-Marie Williams

“Some people felt that gave them a license to have stoned the police or the security forces because they heard that it was ineffective.”

Christopher Blackman

“There is no such license and anybody who’s labouring on that misapprehension may well find that there’s still charges to bring against them for common assault of wounding.”

Senior Superintendent Westby was in charge of law enforcement operations on the day of the Tower Hill riot.