PM Refers Questions on Joseph Ryan Budna Investigation to Minister Julius Espat

The closure of the cyberbullying complaint against Alberto August has again brought attention to another unresolved matter involving social-media personality Joseph Ryan Budna.  After the Director of Public Prosecutions directed that the complaint made by former Minister Oscar Mira against August be closed, the Prime Minister was asked this morning whether there has been any update in the investigation into Budna’s alleged abduction and transfer into Guatemala. Prime Minister John Briceño referred the question to Interim Minister of Home Affairs Julius Espat which we had done last Friday.

John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “Well that is something that you would have to discuss with the Espat because I don’t know what really they have in the police but again I think that is already in the hands of the DPP and so it’s out of the direct control of the police.”

Reporter: “I didn’t get an update from you on Budna.  How are you going to move forward with that? 

Julius Espat, Minister of Home Affairs: “I don’t have an update because I haven’t dealt with it as yet. So I will start looking at that shortly.”

Budna is at the centre of a major legal and political controversy following the events of August 22, 2025. He was reportedly taken by force near the Orange Walk Police Station and was later found in Guatemalan custody after surfacing in the border area of El Arenal. Budna has alleged that Belizean police officers abducted, assaulted and illegally handed him over to Guatemalan authorities, an allegation the government has denied.  The Belize Police Department opened an investigation after a report was made by an eyewitness, and authorities confirmed that surveillance footage and a vehicle of interest were being examined. However, no one has been charged in Belize in connection with the alleged abduction. Budna had been living in Belize after escaping from a Guatemalan prison hospital in 2019. He was wanted in Guatemala in connection with kidnapping and abduction convictions and is now serving a 30-year prison sentence there. His attorneys maintain that whatever his criminal history, he was entitled to due process and could not lawfully be removed from Belize through an unofficial cross-border operation.