Post: #1

My friend is currently traveling Belize with his family. He sent me this email:

My mom was hit by a drunk driver in Belize. The police took her passport and are now holding her in the country, I believe in the hopes of eventually getting a bribe, or maybe they are protecting the driver. They have been sabotaging our court case, at first by destroying witness testimony and making up false statements, and in the most recent development by threatening to kill one of witnesses, who has now fled the area. No one in the Belize or US governments have been willing to help. I am convinced that without a little bit of pressure on the Belize tourism industry/government nothing is going to happen and things will continue to get worse. I've made a small website with the story, in hopes of eventually reaching a major news outlet or convincing someone in power to take an interest in the matter.

You can help by going to: http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comme...elize_and/ and hitting the little up arrow in the top left corner to promote the site.

Full story:
http://www.shatterboxwebdesign.com/beliz...el_review/

Post: #2

How do we know this isn't a scam?

(01-10-2011 08:55 PM)Bolo Wrote:  My friend is currently traveling Belize with his family. He sent me this email:

My mom was hit by a drunk driver in Belize. The police took her passport and are now holding her in the country, I believe in the hopes of eventually getting a bribe, or maybe they are protecting the driver. They have been sabotaging our court case, at first by destroying witness testimony and making up false statements, and in the most recent development by threatening to kill one of witnesses, who has now fled the area. No one in the Belize or US governments have been willing to help. I am convinced that without a little bit of pressure on the Belize tourism industry/government nothing is going to happen and things will continue to get worse. I've made a small website with the story, in hopes of eventually reaching a major news outlet or convincing someone in power to take an interest in the matter.

You can help by going to: http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comme...elize_and/ and hitting the little up arrow in the top left corner to promote the site.

Full story:
http://www.shatterboxwebdesign.com/beliz...el_review/

Post: #3

Because he's not selling anything?

Post: #4

He might have some other intentions - starting from just being a drama queen and craving for attention. There are too many inaccuracies. For example, Bolo's post says "My mom was hit by a drunk driver in Belize". However the story he linked too described a car-motorbike accident, which is NOT something we'd call "was hit by a driver". His post also failed to mention that the motorcycle rider was taken to the hospital, while the "mom" is apparently doing fine. Neither the whole story ever said anything about the motorcycle rider being drunk.

What is true in many countries, however, is that IF you are driving a vehicle and get into traffic accident which resulted in bodily injures and you claim you're innocent (and of course so does the other driver), you will have to come to a court trial. If you think about it without hysteria, this is exactly what the courts are for. Of course, until the liability issue is resolved and the trial happens, you won't be able to leave the country. This has happened before in Thailand with some of people I know. And indeed the Embassy can only provide little help here as it is civil dispute, not a criminal one.