The Process for Joseph Budna to be Handed over to Guatemalan Authorities

Chester Williams

Budna has a checkered past and as it relates to his troubles in neighbouring Guatemala, ComPol Chester Williams says that sans extradition treaty, there are protocols in place to hand over the wanted man to their Guatemalan counterparts.  Williams says prisoner exchanges have taken place multiple times in the past for persons wanted by Belize or Guatemala. That process, however, is facilitated through diplomatic channels in which the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Attorney General’s office are involved.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“We do not have an extradition treaty with Guatemala and so if it is that he is to be sent back to Guatemala to serve whatever prison sentence he was serving there, that is something that the Guatemalan government will have to work out through the diplomatic channels with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in conjunction with the A.G. Ministry. And so we are yet to see what will be done, if the request will be made. And it would not be extraordinary; it has been done in the past where we have received prisoners from Guatemala, who were wanted in Belize and vice versa. So we will see how that plays out, but like I said, it is a matter for them to deal with through diplomatic channels.”