The software pioneer John McAfee believes he will be given time in Guatemala to appeal against his deportation back to Belize.

John McAfee
John McAfee will be given time to appeal against his deportation to Belize where his is a person of interest in relation to the murder of his neighbour.

It was initially believed that McAfee would be deported back to Belize within 48 hours of presenting himself to Guatemalan authorities last Wednesday. McAfee was immediately arrested for illegally crossing the border from Belize into Guatemala with his 20-year-old girlfriend, Samantha.

McAfee has been on the run since 11 November when his neighbour Gregory Faull was found dead in his house on the Caribbean island of Ambergris Caye. McAfee is wanted for questioning by the Belize authorities in relation to the death.

McAfee's lawyers filed papers with the courts in Guatemala to grant him leave to stay in the country until his legal appeals against deportation have been settled, which could take months.

"The government of Guatemala respects the courts and we have to wait for them to make a decision," said Francisco Cuevas, a spokesman for the Guatemalan government.

The court has up to 30 days to rule on his request, but McAfee's lawyers said on Sunday they expect a ruling in the American's favor as early as Monday.

Papers

"We are filing a series of papers with the court to attempt to keep me here long enough for the world to see the injustice of sending me back to Belize," McAfee said in an online news conference on Sunday evening.

McAfee also said that he wanted to return to the US and not Belize, and his lawyer Telesforo Guerra said he had filed a motion that would require Guatemalan authorities to deport him there and not to Belize.

During the online news conference with reporters, McAfee said: "I simply would like to live comfortably day by day, fish, swim, enjoy my declining years."

McAfee has been blogging and speaking to reporters throughout his time on the run, but it was this attention-seeking which saw his location finally revealed.

Two reporters from Vice magazine were travelling with him and one posted a picture of himself with McAfee on the Vice website, under the title "We're with John McAfee, suckers."

However, the reporter failed to remove the xif data from photo and people were able to pinpoint his location exactly to the luxurious resort of in Guatemala.

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