7 News Belize

Grijlava Attorney Says Noh Mul Appeal Likely
posted (April 19, 2016)
On Thursday - UDP Politician Denny Grijalva, his wife Emelda and project manager Javier Nunez will go before the Chief Magistrate in Belize City to be sentenced. Nunes has been found guilty of, causing the removal of earth from an ancient monument without a permit, while Grijalva and his wife are guilty of "removing earth from an ancient monument...and wilful damaging on an ancient monument."

The monument in question is Noh Mul and Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith found, quote, "The damage to the mound is irreversible as the excavation has resulted in only the core being left.... the Crown..proved all elements of the offences beyond a reasonable doubt and therefore finds the defendants guilty of all charges."

And while the defence for Gijlava's team argues that the equipment found at the site was commandeered by villagers and used without their consent, the Chief Magistrate found, quote, "if the Maya site was destroyed by the agents of the defendants, can the defendant's be held liable? The Court is of the view that the company and the directors i.e. Mr Denny Grijalva, Ms Emelda Grijalva and the project manager Mr Javier Nunez are to be held liable and accountable for the acts of its servants...for the criminal acts of those who illegally excavated Noh Mul. They are to be held accountable."

Grijlava's attorney Bryan Neal doesn't agree and he told us why today:...

Bryan Neal, Attorney for De-Mar's/Grijalva
"We are quite frankly surprised at the decision of the Chief Magistrate because in court there was never any proof that any of the Agents or anybody working for the De-Mars Construction Company were ever involved directly. In fact, there was no driver who was convicted, so I don't know how we arrived at the situation where the 3 defendants, maybe the company I could understand, but there was no evidence that they were the directing mind and controlling will of which was happening at Noh Mul. The law says, I don't want to comment too much on the sanctions because that is within the purview of the Magistrate, but the law says that each can be fined from $10,000 and a year in prison. We are hoping to avoid prison sentence of course, so we will see when we make submissions on Thursday what sentence is passed on based on the plan in our way forward. From what he had said to me and what we put forward into the court, he was not there, he was not giving any instructions, he was far remote and he's not involved in the day to day operations of the company so I am very surprised by the decision."

Daniel Ortiz
"It's unbelievable for someone to suggest that he has no knowledge, that his equipment was being used for the Noh Mul malting."

Bryan Neal, Attorney for De-Mar's/Grijalva
"If a BTL driver in a BTL truck runs over somebody on Freetown Road, they won't arrest Anwar Barrow and the other directors, they will arrest the driver. So it is the person who was destroying the actual mound was the person that was supposed to be arrested. When you look at the legislation, it says that you must wilfully destroy it and there is no evidence of that."

We'll tell you what comes out of Thursday's sentencing, but Neal says he expects that Grijlava will be inclined to appeal.

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