Date set for constitutional motion on alleged police torture

They claimed that police beat them, burned them, and shocked them with electric wires … and now three men from the Stann Creek district will get a chance to challenge their alleged torturers in the Supreme Court. Frans Faux, Mark Faux and their father John Faux have been given a date of April fourth to present their motion for redress of their constitutional rights. In July of 2005, the three men were detained by police in connection with the armed robbery of the Scotia Bank branch in Dangriga. They were eventually released, but once free told this station a harrowing tale of extreme physical abuse at the hands of the cops. They also filed a report with the police Internal Affairs Department but, according to their attorney Antoinette Moore, when authorities failed to respond, her clients had no choice but to file a constitutional motion. Moore says it is the first time in Belize that anyone has brought a constitutional motion claiming torture by the police. John Faux was later charged with conspiracy in the Scotia Bank heist and remains out on bail. He claims the charge is baseless and was filed simply to punish him for going public with the accusations of torture.