?I am prepared to do it again, and then immediately after that again. I will not be intimidated. I will not stop, and, like I said, the only hope is that the message goes out across the length and breadth of this country,? he asserted at a UDP press conference at the Radisson Fort George Hotel in Belize City this afternoon, Monday, December 13.

Morgan, 43, said that while he was in police detention over the weekend, the Commissioner of Police, Jose Carmen Zetina, tried to get him to apologize for remarks he had made in the House of Representatives on Friday. The apology, he said, would have been to the Prime Minister, Hon. Said Musa, and Minister responsible for the police, Hon. Ralph Fonseca. He said that the deal was that if he had apologized, he would have been a free man, and perhaps free of all criminal charges.

?What I believe would have been accomplished by my signing such a letter [was I] would [have] legalized the wrong that they are doing, because by apologizing, I would have been acknowledging a wrong-doing,? he told the media.

Recollecting what had happened in the House on Friday, Morgan said that he had gone to the House to support Port Loyola area representative, Hon. Anthony ?Boots? Martinez, who was presenting a divisional budget in the House that day.

Morgan narrated: ??Madam Speaker then said, I want the entire gallery [of the House] cleared. Whereupon I, seeing myself about to be evicted from somewhere that I feel I rightfully should have been, I stepped to the balcony and I asked Madam Speaker, ?Weh di go ahn wid you, gial? You di sen di police deh fi peaceful law abiding citizens and you have two criminals right deh front ah yuh in di person ah Ralph an Said. Why yuh no sen di police fi deh??

?Upon this, the officers approached me to take me out of the gallery, whereupon the said Ralph Fonseca was looking back at me, over his shoulder. I looked down to him and I said, ?You lucky I noh have wah grenade.??

Several hours later, the police picked up Morgan. Morgan recalled that he was escorted to the police station at 12:17 a.m. on Saturday, December 11, only moments after he had received his Lord Rhaburn Music Award, and emceed the show at the Bliss. Ironically enough, Hon. Ralph Fonseca was on the top of the list of people to be recognized in the introductory segment of the show. After overcoming his reluctance to perform before Fonseca, Morgan agreed to proceed.

Things went off without a hitch, and Morgan said that when he was about to take home his 12-year-old daughter, his stage manager, Yanique, two police officers met him.

Morgan said that upon reaching the sidewalk in front of the Bliss Institute, he was approached by Corporals Rivero and Molina, who said they wanted to see him, to which he replied, ?If unu promise no fi get blind, I promise no fi get invisible.? (Kenny Morgan is also a comedian.)

He said that the officers then asked him to accompany them to the station, presumably because Assistant Commissioner of Police, Maureen Leslie, wanted to see him because of allegations of his ?disorderly conduct? inside the House.

Morgan said that when he arrived at the station, ACP Leslie was not there. Instead, he was detained, first on the allegation that he had used ?threatening words? against a politician in the House, but he was charged, in fact, for ?disorderly conduct,? he further claimed.

This was the charge on which he was arraigned on Monday in the Belmopan Magistrate?s Court. He was released on $850 bail, plus one surety of the same amount and is due to reappear in court on January 11.

Morgan said: ?I was locked down in the detention cell, the infamous ?pisshouse,? from 5 minutes to one Friday night until Sunday afternoon shortly after 1 o?clock, I would say.? He arrived at the Belmopan ?piss house? shortly before 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.

He commented that despite the intervention of ?some very noteworthy attorneys,? including Sedi Elrington, Dean Barrow, and B. Q. Pitts, who attempted to secure bail for him, the police continued to detain him. Luckily for Morgan, he has in his war chest a cadre of eminent attorneys within the sphere of the Opposition who have been supporting his cause. Barrow, the Leader of the Opposition, and Sharon Pitts/Robateau featured prominently at the press conference.

?On his third visit,? Morgan said, ?Mr. Barrow communicated to me a very strange message coming from the Commissioner of Police, Carmen Zetina. The message was that Mr. Zetina, being on his way to the wedding of one of Said Musa?s sons on Saturday, wanted to know if Mr. Barrow could persuade me?Mr. Barrow would write the letter and I would sign it, apologizing to the Speaker of the House, Ralph Fonseca and Said Musa for what, I don?t know. Deh no apologize yet fi all fi we money weh deh dash weh ? an hide??

?To my mind,? said Pitts/Robateau, ?you?re dealing with the constitutional liberties of the person. And when the constitutional liberty of one person is threatened or being affected, it is the constitutional liberty of every Belizean and the sanctity of the Constitution of Belize, which has to do with freedom of speech and freedom of political conscience, that is being affected. And it?s a very serious situation.?

Barrow told the gathering at the press conference, ?In a case where somebody is charged with a petty offense, the maximum penalty for which is a fine of two hundred dollars, you have a right to bail, and when the Police Commissioner locks you up for the weekend and doesn?t give you bail, he is infringing your rights. Jose Carmen Zetina violated Mr. Morgan?s right to bail, given the circumstances??

He further maintained that Morgan should not have been arrested in the first place, but served a summons to appear in court on his scheduled date.

?I am absolutely confident that Mr. Morgan will be acquitted, and when that is done, presumably we will bring an action for false arrest and malicious prosecution,? Barrow said.

The man who is taking responsibility for the decision to lock down Morgan is the Commissioner of Police, Jose Carmen Zetina. Speaking with Amandala this afternoon, he said, ?Mr. Morgan had committed himself in the House of Representatives. I gave instructions that he be arrested.?

When asked why Morgan was arrested at the time that he was, after the award show, Zetina said that he was out of the country, and had only reviewed the videotape of what had transpired in the House around 7 or 8 that Friday night.

He told us that Morgan?s arrest was not because of anything he said in the House, but because of his ?disorderly behavior? there.

Asked why only Morgan was arrested when there was a whole crowd that the Speaker had reprimanded and ejected from the House, the Commissioner said that the others did not resist orders to leave, but Morgan ?was reluctantly leaving??

He also said that it was his decision for Morgan to be kept in custody the entire weekend.

?My position was that if he apologizes to the Speaker?Mr. Barrow was there?if he apologizes to the Speaker of the House then the matter would be reviewed,? the Commissioner of Police also told us.

He said that if Morgan had apologized in writing, he would have considered offering him bail, but the charge would have remained, though it would have been kept (and is still) under review, he told us.

The Commissioner furthermore accused Morgan of inciting ?civil disobedience? on the airwaves, and said that if there were to be an uprising, Morgan is the first person the police would pick up.

We further questioned the Commissioner whether this could not be seen as political victimization, since Morgan was handpicked out of the crowd to face criminal charges. To this the Commissioner responded: ?An offense is not political victimization. I will have to look at the tape again more closely and deal with it.?

Morgan said that this morning, shortly before his arraignment in Belmopan, he was handed a letter from the Police Commissioner, which he was asked to sign, but refused to do so without the counsel of his attorney.

The letter advised him that, ?This Office notes with concern your repeated inflammatory statements, suggestions and remarks on public radio and the streets regarding certain current issues with a view to incite unlawful civil disobedience.

[According to Morgan, the current issue he has taken on is Social Security, and the reappointment of Narda Garcia as the general manager of the board.]

The Compol?s letter continued: ?Kindly be informed that to incite disorder is against the law and your continuing to do so will result in criminal prosecution before a court of law. Also be informed that your conduct in this regard will be closely monitored by the Belize Police Department.?

?Now, in other words,? said Morgan, ?what they are telling me is, from here on in, they will spend taxpayers? money to pay police to follow and monitor me?I who have never been arrested and charged for any criminal offense prior to today. Again I will say, I could direct them to two big criminals who need police monitoring and supervision.?

Morgan noted that while in police custody, 90% of the police officers he had contact with also offered him their support: ?Despite the discomfort of being in the police lock-up, my spirit was bolstered by the solidarity from the police and I must publicly commend them and acknowledge that,? he expressed.

Leotine Gillett Lewis, who described herself as an octogenarian, had encouraging words for Morgan: ?We have been there, done that and survived. In the 60?s and the 70?s, we had policemen?when I say ?we? – people like Erlene Casasola and myself, and others?we had policemen walking every bit of the way with us.?

She continued: ?The fact is that we were fearless. The only thing to fear is fear itself.?