Photo: Anita Nembhard

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Oct. 19, 2023

This week, on Monday, October 16, a well-known court reporter, Anita Nembhard was covering a high-profile case and conducting her duties as a court reporter when she was assaulted by a civilian. She was outside the courtroom recording video footage, and while exiting the building Epifania Caliz, the common-law-wife of Elmer Nah, walked towards her, pulled down her facemask, and coughed in Nembhard’s face. Everything was captured on camera, and the intention was clear, as masks are routinely worn in court as protection against the possible spread of Covid-19. At the tail end of the video capture, Epifania Caliz’s brother can be seen snickering, after what had occurred.

Nembhard claims that she has never interacted with Caliz, much less had a conversation with her. She told Amandala that Caliz’s actions were intended and an act of malice.

“She told Manuel Caliz, her brother, in the presence of people who [she] thought wasn’t listening to her, she said, ‘watch weh I wahn kaaf inna ih face’ and after that, she did. She said she would do it, and she did when she came out. The thing is, she was coughing the entire time in court. I recognized that, and said she got a cold, and good thing she was covering her mouth to protect others. So, for her to take down her mask and do something like that, she had not a good intention towards me,” Nembhard said.

Attorney Dickie Bradley, who represented Caliz in the matter she was attending court sessions for, expressed to the media that his client wanted to offer an apology to Nembhard for her actions and pleads that she drops the case.

“I’d hoped that Anita as a mother would appreciate … Here is another mother who is a public officer. What did she do to be subjected to going to jail, to can’t get her salary from the public service, being on half pay and interdiction, to have her name all over the internet which will never come off? [If] anybody looks up your name, they’re like a criminal. That is so unfair. What did she do?” he said.

Nembhard has decided to press charges against Caliz, to not accept any apologies.

“I will not accept an apology at this moment from Epifania Caliz because first, that’s not a genuine apology. First of all, she saw me out here a few minutes ago, right? And her action does not justify it. Well, today, she seemed more afraid to approach me, but I am not the problem, right? She should have thought twice before doing what she did, because she knew also that she had a case before the court. She has a child or she has children. Why are you going to think about that now, after what you did?” Nembhard said.

Nembhard has a challenge dealing with the police officers, who she says are behaving asinine and are not taking her reports seriously.

This isn’t the first time that a court reporter in Belize was assaulted at court. Roy Davis, who began his career in journalism back in the 1970s, told Amandala that there was a case of him being assaulted in court, but he kept his composure. Besides that one time that he was assaulted, he told us that countless times he was threatened, but he never feared anything.

The question being asked at the moment is if Caliz’s action can really be considered an assault. Some argue that an assault occurs only if the victim is physically harmed; others say what happened to Nembhard is a clear case of assault.

During last week’s Friday session at the House of Representatives, an amendment was introduced to amend the Criminal Code Act in the Constitution of Belize that would protect members of the press, along with other professions as well.

“The press is fundamental to our democracy. It’s fundamental to the rule of law. The press has always historically acted as a check and balance on power. That’s the whole purpose and objective of the press,” Minister of Education, Hon. Francis Fonseca said this week to the media.

Nembhard says she will be following up on her report with the authorities, and she will be making another report if necessary.