Cops drop charges against mother of slain youth
Danalyn Murillo
There was a huge spectacle when Belizeans for Justice member, forty-seven year old Danalyn Murillo, was arrested and charged for Insulting Words and Common Assault against Police Constable, David Griffith. Today those charges were dropped when Murillo appeared before Chief Magistrate Margaret McKenzie. Murillo was accused of approaching PC Griffith during a Port Loyola political convention and accusing him of killing her son, Teddy Murillo, in 2010. Griffith alleged that Murillo called him a murderer and said “one ah these days yoh wah get it.” But the Prosecutor, Sergeant Egbert Castillo, told the Chief Magistrate that he was directed to withdraw the charges. No reason was given in court, but the directive is said to have come from Commissioner of Police Crispin Jeffries. Murillo was represented by Attorney Richard “Dickie” Bradley, who believes that the police never had any evidence to substantiate the charges.
Putting people in jail for what they say is a dangerous concept — democracy REQUIRES that we be able to criticize our officials, and sometimes that will be in blunt, crude, or earthy terms. As long as there is no threat of immediate violence, I think it must be accepted. It’s a price we all must pay to guarantee our long-term freedom.
Look at North Korea for a government that goes the other way. Anybody want to live there?
God delivers his people.