Bear with me people, there is a context and a point here. Someone, anyone, should publicly ask Mr. Westby about the current state of disarray in the Police High Command, why is it that many of his officers are openly saying that he will soon be gone, and that ASP James Magdaleno is being fast-tracked as his replacement. Somewhere in there they should also ask him if he had been “consulted” on the matter of Joe Coye being investigated by the Major Crimes Unit, and if he knew who gave the instructions for Mr. Coye to be charged and arrested.

In my past three columns I have alluded to Mr. Coye being persecuted by his political opponent, Hon. Carlos Perdomo, Minister of National Security, and I have alleged that the honourable gentleman has been abusing the privilege of his office to carry out that persecution. That process culminated in Friday’s nebulous arrest, complete with his former campaign manager instituting a strategy of calling selected members of the press to tip them off.

I won’t belabour that particular point in this article, because I would want to believe that by the time you’re reading this, it will have become grist for our society’s discussion grill, and will have been more fully explored by then.

I want to ask, what should be the consequences when a member of cabinet uses his office to persecute someone whom he perceives as his enemy, and not “merely” his opponent?

What are we as a society and nation to think when even the top cop in the land, has to be extremely cautious about using his telephone in fear of being spied upon, even perhaps by the political executive he has sworn to serve?

In Joe Coye’s case, the issue is hardly his innocence or guilt, but more the fact that after several years of continued propaganda in the majority of the media, our society seems willing to forgo his constitutional presumption of innocence, hence people like Channel 5’s head honcho Stuart Krohn, who I normally would regard as open and fair minded, characterizing the purported sale of the Putt Putt property matter as a “scam” in his newscast, when clearly he is not in possession of all the facts and figures.

Can anyone in the media as of today answer the basic fundamental questions journalists are supposed to ask before reporting on these matters? Answer me folks, who sold what to whom, when and for how much?

In short, was it Joe Coye who sold the property or was it the Lands Department of the Government of Belize? Who valued the property and what portion of the property, what size in other words, was sold to whom? When was this matter broached, discussed or negotiated, and finally consummated?

Oh, and as for Mr. Westby and the Police High Command, believe me I am well intended when I ask: are your officers right when they say that Messrs Magdaleno, Aragon and Broaster no longer take instructions from you all, but instead are instructed directly from the Ministry? Yessiree gentlemen and ladies, could we also ask the CEO, Brigadier General Lloyd Gillett, Ret., if he could also say what he knows as to be the conduct of this department for which he has ultimately constitutional liability.

Gentlemen and ladies of the media, please put on your microphones and cameras, unsheathe your pens and pencils, unleash your minds from the shackles of past propaganda and for our sake, start asking some questions.

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