In a development that has thrown a spotlight on perceived political overreach in law enforcement, former United Democratic Party Deputy Chairman Alberto August is weighing legal action against the Belizean government, months after his arbitrary arrest on unsubstantiated cybercrime charges that were ultimately dismissed last week.
The saga dates back to late May 2026, when August was taken into custody by local law enforcement over a Facebook post that was critical of then Home Affairs Minister Oscar Mira. Police detained August for more than 24 hours, and seized two of his personal cellphones as evidence. The case was forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) last week by Acting Home Affairs Minister Julius Espat, and DPP officials quickly issued a directive to drop all charges against August and order the return of his confiscated devices.
While August has confirmed he received his phones back last week, the former party leader says the experience has left lasting disruption. In an interview following the withdrawal of charges, August explained that after being separated from his devices for more than a month, he is still readjusting to accessing his personal data. Worse, multiple files and stored services on the devices are missing, creating ongoing practical setbacks that he has yet to resolve.
“Yesterday or the day before, I received a call from Stacey Smith the police spokesperson informing me that on the directive of the director of public prosecution, the charges were withdrawn against me and that my items would have been returned to me. Since then I got them yesterday. After being away from the phone for so long now you have to get used to it all over again because even though he opened the phone, several of the things that I have on it gone missing. So it set me back. I’ve still not been able to fully recover in terms of the services that I used to get from that telephone,” August said.
When asked directly if he planned to file a civil lawsuit against the government over the wrongful arrest and prosecution, August said he is currently awaiting formal guidance from his lead legal counsel, Michael Peyrefitte, who will outline potential next steps. He added that just days ago, an inspector from the San Ignacio Police Department visited him to schedule an official court hearing to formalize the withdrawal of charges on record.
August framed the entire incident as a waste of public funds, arguing that the baseless prosecution was a targeted abuse of power by government officials. “It is unfortunate as to what happened afterwards. But like I say, probably- It might be a blessing in disguise when you see as though all the abuse that these people were engaged in, at taxpayers’ expense. We’re hoping for the government to take firm action, for the Prime Minister to take firm action against these individuals so as to send a message to other colleagues in government that, you don’t do these things, man,” he stated.
For now, August says he feels a small measure of relief after the charges were dropped, but he is not willing to move past the incident without accountability. The former opposition leader’s next move will depend entirely on what legal avenues his counsel advises are available to pursue damages for the wrongful prosecution.