WILLEMSTAD/PHILIPSBURG — The Public Prosecutor (OM) on St. Maarten has decided not to appeal to a higher court against the court’s judgment in first instance on St. Maarten on August 24^th whereby the OM was declared inadmissible in the prosecution against the suspects in the ‘Snowflake’ investigation. In addition, the OM on Curaçao had decided not to prosecute the suspects from the ‘Benz’ investigation. However, criminal proceedings will be instituted against a criminal investigator from the Criminal Investigation Cooperation Team (RST). OM mentions this in a press statement.

Together with RST, the OM discovered at the end of November 2010 that a process verbal from the Snowflake investigation was antedated. In anticipation of which consequences the judge would connect to that flaw, the OM released all suspects who were detained at that moment within the scope of mentioned investigation. The same happened with the suspects who were detained within the scope of the Benz investigation because that investigation is namely linked to Snowflake. Furthermore, a disciplinary and criminal investigation was ordered against the criminal investigator involved. The criminal investigation from the National Criminal Investigation Department into this criminal investigator from the RST (R. van der Veen, (editorial office)), is almost completed. He is to appear before the judge at the Court in First Instance on Curaçao, according to the OM. At the court session of December 14^th last year, the OM in first instance demanded inadmissibility. The Court in First Instance subsequently requested the OM to provide more information on the discovered oversight. The OM complied with this request at the court session of March 23^rd last. Although the criminal investigation from the National Criminal Investigation Department into the antedated process verbal was not completed at that time, the OM indicated on the basis of its own interim investigation findings on that session that although the discovered flaw was serious, on reflection this was no reason to halt the prosecution. Stating the reasons on which it is based, the circumstances were that the OM and the police discovered and revealed the oversight, that none of the suspects’ interests were harmed by the oversight and that based on the (antedated) process verbal, no investigation actions were performed (tracking methods deployed), according to the Public Prosecutor. On August 24^th, the judge followed the initial judgment of the OM and declared the inadmissibility. With that, the judge also considered that the drafter of the antedated process verbal played a crucial role with the Snowflake and Benz investigations and that the OM could not give any absolute guarantee the other documents drawn up by this tracking official did not contain any flaws.

“The OM on St. Maarten will not appeal to a higher court against the judge’s verdict. Also stating the reasons on which it is based, the continuance of the criminal case will mainly regard the actions of the police and Justice, while the criminal case, according to the OM, should actually regard that which the suspects are accused of. An appeal will not avail the confidence in the administration of justice in its entirety” according to the press report from the Public Prosecutor on Curaçao and St. Maarten.

Van der Veen

From substitute team chief of the RST the Amigoe heard that the corps chief of the Corps National Police Services (KLPD) employed criminal investigator Van der Veen since May 1^st in Driebergen. Van der Veen was taken out of service the day after it appeared that a process verbal had been antedated. The corps chief of the KLPD subsequently conducted an internal inquiry. Based on the inquiry, it was decided to take disciplinary action against Van der Veen. He was dismissed conditionally with two years’ probation.

He was also repatriated to The Netherlands per May 1^st. He had to sell his house on Curaçao and his wife had to give up her company there.