Outrage in Belize as teens accused of horse abuse granted bail

The teenagers who were detained by the Belize Police for assaulting a horse and were charged with "Cattle Theft”, "Cruelty to an Animal" and "Abetment to commit Cruelty to an Animal" have been granted bail. The netizens blamed the justice system and described it as a ‘joke’ and calling it a reckless system. 

The five teenagers were arraigned in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court, in connection with the now viral video of them chopping a horse with a machete. 

The video, which has gone viral, showcases the teenagers chopping the horse while it was tied to a tree, trying desperately to escape. After the video went viral across social media platforms, the police authorities conducted an investigation and arrested the five individuals. All these teenagers were taken into court 3 before a Senior Magistrate.

The teenagers have been identified as two 15-year-olds, one 16-year-old, and two 19-year-olds Tyreek Straughan and Raheem Herbert. As per reports, four of the five pleaded guilty to cruelty to an animal. Four were jointly charged with abetment to which Raheem Herbert pleaded not guilty.

The Commissioner of Police of Belize, Chester Williams shed light on the incident and said, “It's not a matter of stopping the books. When we do charge, we have to charge based on evidence that, exists in the file. And so, the police have charged those individuals with three counts, one count of quill to animal, one count of, abetment to commit quill to animal, and one count of, cattle test.”

Despite a strong objection from the commissioner, bail was granted to the teenagers under strict conditions. 

Netizens slammed judicial system 

This decision sparked outrage netizens, who took to their social media accounts to blame the justice system. “Bullshit they chop that horse big day and uno wah still grant bail uno fail Belize in every damn way possible, uno d same one the cause all the killings happening in Belize, because yall see red flags and uno still allow shit to past uno like uno nuh d see,” said one user. 

Another user wrote, “Whatever domestic animals they may have, they should all be taken away from these Thugs. And these judges need to grow some balls. I don't know where they got their law degrees from. It's unconscionable how these magistrates decide these cases. It seems like they are always on the side of the criminals.”