Back to prison-term for drug couriers

December 03, 2008 5:05 AM

Drug couriers are sentenced to prison-term again now that their passports may no longer be seized.  The Supreme Court decided last week that the ban on travel cannot be imposed, because it is not included in the Antillean legislation.  The couriers that had to appear in the every two weeks Hato-session yesterday were therefore given their passports back afterwards.

Depending on the amount of drugs they had on them when they were caught, they received prison terms of six to eighteen months, of which half is conditional.  This implies that the cells capacity of the Bon Futuro-prison is going to be heavily claimed again.  The prosecutor announced in the meantime that in order to avoid big stacks of paper on her desk, starting this January, she’s going to carry out the punishments.  It also implies that couriers being caught as of now are no longer being sent away with a writ after having turning in their passport.  They are sent straight to cell-block 1 of the Bon Futuro-prison.

The Public Prosecutor seems to be running out of creative possibilities now that travel-ban measure is annulled twice by the Supreme Court.  More than 3000 couriers that were caught between 2002 and 2003 and received prison-term, were pardoned in exchange of a travel-ban of six months to three years, by turning in their passport.  The travel ban was imposed since 2004 as special condition or a conditional punishment.   After the Supreme Court considered the travel ban illegal in November of last year, the judge started to inflict fines for just awhile.   But it didn’t work and the judge started to impose travel-bans between the Netherlands and the Antilles, while retaining the passport.  This went on till April of 2008, when the Court decided on a different form of a travel-ban: namely turning in the passport, while still being able to travel between the islands of the Neth.Antilles and Aruba with an ID-card (cedula).  However, in the interest of the law, the prosecutor of the High Court took this to the court of cassation. 

Travel-ban with Advisory Council
The travel-ban for couriers is included on the concept-amendment of the criminal code, which is waiting for the approval of Parliament for quite some time already.  But it is currently still with the Advisory Council.  It’s not clear why it is taking this long.  It just frustrates the OM.  “If they could have lifted terrorism for approval, why not the travel-ban?” is the reaction of the prosecutor at the end of the Hato-session.

(Source: National newspaper Amigoe)

2 December, 2008