‘Wiels’ intimidation of the newspaper unacceptable’

May 10, 2012 7:55 AM

THE HAGUE - Pueblo Soberano (PS) Party Leader Helmin Wiels has threatened the Curaçao newspaper Antilliaans Dagblad. Member of the Dutch Parliament Second Chamber Martijn van Dam of the Labour Party PvdA is not amused.

He wants the Kingdom Government to issue a warning to Curaçao that restricting freedom of the press is "unacceptable."
 
Wiels said in a radio interview on Tuesday that Antilliaans Dagblad Editor-in-Chief Mike Willemse should be "arrested" and "handcuffed," because of earlier publications in the newspaper about the intervention by Curaçao Minister of Justice Elmer "Kadè" Wilsoe, in the investigation of lottery owner Robbie Dos Santos and the crisis of confidence between Wilsoe and Attorney General Dick Piar.
 
According to Wiels, the newspaper and its management should be "prosecuted for releasing this dangerous information." Asked whether this was not a matter of freedom of the press, he said: "This has nothing to do with freedom of the press, but with terrorism."
 
Stunned by these remarks, Member of Parliament Van Dam on Wednesday submitted written questions to Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Liesbeth Spies. He wants to know what she thinks of Wiels' statement and in what light one should see this statement on the freedom of the press. "Do you share the view that these kinds of statements can undermine freedom of the press?"
 
Van Dam criticised the "far-reaching intimidation" of the press by some Curaçao politicians. He asked the Minister what she thought of earlier incidents, in which the Curaçao coalition parties had tried to intimidate the media in Curacao, because they didn't like media reports on their behaviour.
 
According to Van Dam, freedom of the press and a critical press are of essential importance for the functioning of a democratic state of law. In his opinion, media should be free, in a democratic state of law, to publish critical articles about the practices of politicians and rulers of a country.
 
"Can we still speak of a free and independent press, if the media continue to be harassed and intimidated by the Curaçao Government? What does this mean for the state of law in Curacao?" Van Dam asked Spies.
 
In Van Dam's opinion, the Kingdom Council of Ministers should get involved, because it has a responsibility to protect freedom of the press, in light of Article 43 of the Kingdom Charter, which states that the guaranteeing of fundamental human rights, freedom, legal security and proper governance is a matter of the Kingdom.
 
"Are you willing to inform the Curaçao Government that freedom of the press is of essential importance and that is why restricting freedom of the press is unacceptable within the Kingdom?" asked Van Dam, who wanted to know which sanctions the Kingdom Council of Ministers would impose, if the Curaçao Government didn't change its course.
 
Wilsoe (PS) and Antilliaans Dagblad have been in a back-and-forth since late last week, when the newspaper published a front-page story on the intervention by the Justice Minister in the "Bientu" (Wind) criminal investigation, in which Dos Santos is a key suspect.
 
According to the newspaper, Wilsoe sent a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Attorney General Eric Holder, on April 25, with the request to lift the lien on the accounts of Dos Santos at the UBS bank in Miami, Florida. Wilsoe initially denied that he had intervened in the criminal investigation by sending a letter to Washington. "I cannot intervene and that is not my task," he said last week Friday.
 
However, Wilsoe's letter, which was obtained by the media in Curaçao, showed that the Minister had indeed submitted a formal request to Washington to remove the lien on Dos Santos' bank accounts. On the request of Curaçao justice authorities, US authorities had frozen the bank credits of about US $46 million at two of Dos Santos' companies in the US.
 
Wilsoe sent the letter via the US Consulate in Willemstad and not via the regular channel, namely the local Attorney General and the Prosecutor's Office. On Tuesday, Wilsoe said he personally had gotten involved in the case against Dos Santos, because of a conflict of trust that he has with Attorney General Piar.