Arthur Saldivar explains why he was a no-show in court

Arthur Saldivar

The lump sum was to have been settled on Monday; however, Saldivar has indicated that he will appeal the judgment.  When asked why he did not appear in court to testify in the matter, the outspoken lawyer says that he was never served any papers asking him to appear before the bench.

Arthur Saldivar, Sued for Libel

“The claim was one that was brought in defamation and under our law where a party seeks to engage such an action the first step is to send a letter to the person who they believe has done them a wrong.  That letter is a step to mitigate prior to any claim being brought.  No such letter was ever sent to me.  A claim was brought, a statement of claim was brought and to be truthful I don’t remember making any such statement and I don’t take ownership of the statement attributed to me.  From what I read and in consultation with the attorneys that I had at the time. Mr. Elrington and Mr. Bradley, it was expressed to me that the claim did not disclose any valid cause of action known to law in Belize under our defamation and libel act.  Certainly the court took another view as did the claimant, basically relying on the common law even where statutes existed and this was the end result.  Hindsight is twenty-twenty, but at the end of the day I do believe that we in Belize can appreciate that you can listen to Wave Radio on any morning and hear all levels of slander, going against all manners of people both in the public arena and those who are not even in the public arena but we don’t really see the kind of vitriol coming where people are taking them to court and seeking defamation suits against them.”

The second largest settlement was the case of Lois Young versus the Belize Times in which the newspaper had to pay thirty-five thousand dollars to Young.