Hon. Edmund Castro confirmed to the Guardian Newspaper on Wednesday, October 30th, that he will be suing Channel 5 and Alvarene Burgess for the libelous comments which were made against him starting on October 23rd and all other comments made against him thereafter.
He added that he has retained the services of Senior Counsel Rodwell Williams and that a letter demanding a retraction, apology and compensation would be served on both Burgess and Channel 5 on Wednesday. Burgess had claimed on Channel 5’s newscast on October 23rd and 24th that she had been paying Hon. Castro money for him to write letters of recommendations for people to get Belizean visas. While the station had attempted to conceal her identity, she was quickly identified by many persons and now she is part of a lawsuit.
Speaking with Castro as he was out in his constituency clearing up culverts to assist with the running off of water as the floods are coming into his constituency, he said that for too long his name has been maligned and slandered and it was time to put a stop to it. He added that in the past he had not been pursuing any action against those who attack him on the media but this time around the allegations are too much and must now react to clear his name. Channel 5 meanwhile, has publicly stated that it would not back down from their story and have since then continued to repeat the accusations on their station.
It is noteworthy that the CEO of Channel 5 is Amalia Mai, a former editor of the opposition’s newspaper and an active member of the PUP. It should also be noted that the station’s owner is Michael Ashcroft with whom the government of Belize has been embroiled with in legal battles since the UDP took up office in 2008.
