"Legal deficiency shows islands are not ready"

August 11, 2010 7:51 AM

THE HAGUE--Member of Dutch Parliament (MP) Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) said that the legal gap to use extraordinary investigative methods in Antillean and Aruban criminal cases once again shows that Curaçao and St. Maarten are not ready to assume country status.

"The closer we come to October 10, 2010, the more laws appear not to be ready in time," Van Raak stated on Monday. He responded to an article in the Dutch daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad, in which Dutch attorney at law Gerard Spong predicted that several large criminal cases would blow up, because there was no legal base for the Public Prosecutor's Offices in the Antilles and Aruba to use evidence based on alternative investigative methods, such as telephone tapping, observation and infiltration.

"It is the same thing, over and over again. Curaçao and St. Maarten have big problems where it comes to crime and corruption. If they want to become an autonomous country, this kind of legislation has to be in order. We are talking about a true basic condition," Van Raak said.

Van Raak said he was surprised to only hear about this issue now, through the media. He wondered why he hadn't been told earlier. "We amply discussed legislation in the Second Chamber earlier this year. Now it becomes clear to me why a number of politicians who were prosecuted in St. Maarten weren't sentenced to a prison term," he said.

Van Raak also called it curious that he had to read in the newspaper that the Dutch Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations BZK said it hoped that St. Maarten and Curaçao would have their legislation ready in time.

"And that added to the fact that Curaçao still has to have elections, a referendum is still pending in Bonaire and the Council of Financial Supervision CFT no longer has confidence in St. Maarten's financial management. It keeps adding up," he said.

Van Raak said that at the Final Round Table Conference (RTC) on September 9 in The Hague the answer needed to be given whether the islands were ready for an autonomous status. "With all that we know, there is only one possible outcome: that will not happen."

The RTC on September 9 will be held in the Ridderzaal on the Binnenhof. It is the location where Queen Beatrix gives her annual speech on Budget Day on the second Tuesday in September. The preliminary meetings before the RTC, starting on September 6, will be held at Hilton Hotel in The Hague. The delegations from the islands will also stay at this new hotel.

9 August, 2010