Jose Luis Espat charged for spreading false news

Posted: Monday, April 13, 2020. 8:47 am CST.

By Aaron Humes: Police have announced the arrest of 36-year-old medical practitioner and political activist Jose Luis Uc Espat of Belize City for the offense of spreading false news.

As with the previous arrests, the charge concerns comments made on Facebook, the social media platform.

Espat is accused, inter alia, of claiming in his post that as many as 19 soldiers of the Belize Defence Force (BDF) had caught COVID-19 and that one had allegedly died. He cited a source within the Force.

People then started sharing and posting it on social media which created a public alarm and which is contrary to Section 3(1)(ix) of the Summary Jurisdiction Offences Act.

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Belize ~ We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages. Your content is delivered instantly to thousands of users in Belize and abroad! Contact us at mаrkеtі[email protected]еаkіngbеlіzеnеwѕ.соm or call us at 501-601-0315.

© 2020, BreakingBelizeNews.com. Content is copyrighted and requires written permission for reprinting in online or print media. Theft of content without permission/payment is punishable by law.