Wha dat fah?
Buju’s management questions release of his trial video
Buju Banton’s management team has responded to the release of sealed video evidence from the artiste’s 2010 trial on drug-related charges, and has taken issue with ABC News who was instrumental in leaking the video.
In a release sent to THE STAR, Buju’s management contends that surveillance footage was leaked to the Internet just as Buju is preparing to return home.
The release states: “The timing of the ABC report raises many important questions: What purpose does this report serve? Why unseal this dated footage now, when Myrie is preparing to resume his life and career? And, finally, why did an American news network that has previously shown little interest in Buju Banton’s life and career choose to run a lengthy article that omits crucial and readily available information about the case against Mark Myrie?”
“Mark is a warrior,” said attorney David Oscar Markus, who represented Myrie.
“He fought two trials and numerous appeals against a system that included a corrupt juror. He could’ve taken a deal after the first hung trial that would’ve sent him home, but Mark’s philosophy was: Better to fight on your feet than live on your knees,” the report further reads.
On Sunday, what many see as a crucial piece of evidence used to convict the reggae superstar was finally unsealed.
Released by ABC News, the video shows Buju tasting what appears to be a pinch of cocaine.
The clip, which is less than a minute long, shows Buju looking on as another man cuts open a sealed package.
At the end of the clip, Buju is seen taking a lick from his finger then saying, “I like it.”
US officials for years demanded that the undercover video from the entertainer’s last meeting with the informant stay under seal.
But ABC News appealed to a federal judge and the video has now been unsealed.
Buju’s management team has also expressed appreciation for everyone who has reached out with words of support for the artiste.
Buju is scheduled to be released from prison later this year.
He has been incarcerated for nearly a decade on drug trafficking charges.