Karol Mello freed again
Karol Mello
The month-long legal saga involving forty-two year old Karol Mello, since his detention in San Pedro on July eleventh, moved to the Belmopan Magistrate Court where it culminated this morning in the courtroom of Senior Magistrate Linsbert Willis. And we can say that Mello is home safe tonight. Two charges, perjury and uttering upon an invalid passport, levied upon Mello immediately following an order by Supreme Court Justice Oswell Legall to have him set free on August tenth, were subsequently withdrawn when he presented himself in court today. The Slovakian national, who is wanted in his home country to stand trial for the crimes of murder, allegedly committed the local offences in the Cayo Judicial District where he had applied for permanent residency at the Immigration and Nationality Department. Mello’s last-minute indictment, in the wake of the Supreme Court decision, was regarded by his attorneys as a futile attempt at keeping him locked up while government was able to affix charges that would ensure his expulsion from Belize. According to Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith, the charge of uttering upon an invalid passport cannot be reinstated since the window of opportunity for such action to be taken had long since expired.
Godfrey Smith, Attorney for Karol Mello
“After the judge of the Supreme Court had granted habeas corpus to Mr. Mello, meaning an order that he be released immediately, two criminal charges were immediately slapped upon him. [Those] being charges for perjury and uttering, presenting upon an invalid passport. He was granted bail for this and this morning the charges were to be proceeded with before the senior magistrate in Belmopan, this morning. Essentially what happened is that we got to court and the prosecution withdrew the charges, or more accurately, one of the charges was dismissed by the magistrate, meaning the charge of uttering was dismissed. It cannot be brought back and the judge noted that the prosecution had withdrawn the other charge of perjury. So there are currently no charges, no criminal charges whatsoever pending against Mr. Mello.”
Godfrey Smith
Isani Cayetano
“In your absence a few weeks ago these charges were brought against your client. In communicating with the other attorney who stood in on your behalf, and of course your client, what are your thoughts on these charges at the point when they were brought against Mr. Mello?”
Godfrey Smith
“I think the charges were ill-conceived. They could not stand and they were brought as a reaction to the decision of the Supreme Court to grant habeas corpus, releasing Mr. Mello. It was really just a reaction, in our view, to the decision that he be released.”
Isani Cayetano
“In the absence of an extradition treaty between Belize and Slovakia and the fact that several attempts have been made to try to either have your client be detained and held until something can stick, to have him either expelled from the country or deported, for that matter, what else can be brought now, seeing as though these measures have been exhausted to no avail on behalf of the government?”
Godfrey Smith
“Well that has yet to be seen. Speaking for myself and as Mr. Mello’s attorney, I know that no criminal charges can be brought. If any are brought they will be to the same effect as the other two that were withdrawn this morning, meaning they’re just trumped out to try to hold him for something. We hope that won’t be the case. I am satisfied and confident that there is no basis upon which to hold him for any offenses in Belize.”
Karol Mello, an alleged crime boss in Central Europe, migrated to Belize in 2010 and is being sought by Interpol for a series of murders he purportedly committed in Slovakia. In the absence of an extradition treaty with Belize, he is once again a free man. He holds permanent residency in Belize and has a Belizean-born child.
I see you already paid off some minister good fu you mello I told you all you had to do was to pay off some ministers and you gone free hope it didn’t cost you too much so that now you can’t live off of your money.
Way to go Mello! Uncle Benji told the Belizean sheeple that you would walk free…………. you did it. Congrats.
You have clearly shown the sheeple (people that think and anct like sheep) that money talks, bribery is cheap and government corruption in the Ali BaBarrow government is alive and kicking.
Welcome back to freedom, my comrade.
1. I hope GOB immediately signs an extradition treaty with Slovakia, so Mello can have the opportunity to have justice in his native courts.
2. Belize needs a law that says no person with an Interpol warrant can ever have legal status here. Do we want to become the sanctuary for the world’s worst killers just because our customs and immigration people lack the technology to identify people when they enter?
No foreign born Mafiosos or killers here! We grow enough of our own.
Soon he should get his citizenship.
Fake passport to get residency.
His Slovakian references should help for citizenship.
He is the kind of people Belize needs.
Guest the same rules applied for the Guatemalans who presented false papers to get on the voters list pre election period. Even if there was the political will the six months has pass.
Poor Mello , he did the biggest mistake by coming to belize, Dean Barrow is going to flees him of every penny, and make him lose not all his money, but his freedom to, now he is the property of Dean Barrow, the police will follow him every where , just to make sure their golden chicken does not run away. Suzana ,find your hunband another lawyer, who is not after your money like the current one you have, and leave Belize before you run away from all your funds, just an advice.