Philipsburg:--- The detectives from the Landsrecherche who are busy investigating Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge for alleged corruption are yet to approach the Supreme Court to officially start a criminal case against the MP. Attorney General of St. Maarten Taco Stein said currently the detectives from the Landsrecherche are busy with information gathering and the inquiry is in its preliminary stages. Stein said in order for them to approach the Supreme Court they have to have enough evidence to build a case and that is what the investigators are doing at the moment.
Stein confirmed to SMN News on Monday afternoon that Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge did not make contact with the Prosecutor's Office on Monday even though he indicated to reporters on Sunday when he returned to St. Maarten from the Netherlands where he attended the IPKO meetings that he would go to the Prosecutor's Office on Monday March 11th, 2013 to provide them with the information he has and also to explain to them what they saw in the videotape that was published late last week where he was seen taking stacks of monies from the owner of Bada Bing, Jaap van den Heuvel and stuffing them in his pockets.
Stein said that the investigators intend to invite the MP Illidge to their office where they will question him after studying the material they have at the moment. The deputy Attorney General said that whether or not the MP visits the Prosecutor's Office will have no bearing on the decision they will take to approach the Supreme Court. Stein further explained that the investigators have to study the material they have prior to approaching the Supreme Court to start a criminal case against the MP "to go to the Supreme Court we have to have enough evidence to show that a criminal act was committed." He said after the initial procedure is completed and the Prosecutor's Office believes that there is enough to file an official case against the MP or if there is need for MP Illidge to be placed under arrest, then the Landsrecherche will approach the Supreme Court as it is stipulated by law to do so. At that point if the judge finds that the investigators have enough evidence to start a criminal procedure against MP Illidge the judge of the Supreme Court will notify MP Illidge of his findings in writing and at he will also inform him that based on the law that he is suspended from office pending the investigation. While several persons in the community believe that government should suspend Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge because of the international attention and embarrassment since the video footage has been released, the law states otherwise.
Deputy Prime Minister William Marlin said in a short written statement on Sunday that "St. Maarten is a young democracy and over the past couple of days, the democratically established institutions of checks and balances have been and are being put to the test." Marlin said that he has confidence in the St. Maarten's judicial systems and institutions and he also acknowledges that every man and woman is innocent until proven guilty. The Deputy Prime Minister also said that the competent authorities have already started doing their job and he is confident in the process. There are many questions in the minds of the people and they deserve to get answers, Marlin said.
While the Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot Williams also issued a statement on Sunday, it was not sent to SMN News. The Prime Minister in her statements basically told the Dutch politicians to either put up or shut up because St. Maarten has laws and the system is now being tested. The Prime Minister did not mention anything about the ongoing investigation involving Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge.
SMN News took note of some of the comments that are being made on our website, many persons believe that the Minister of Justice Roland Duncan should also resign now that MP Illidge is under investigation and since his name was mentioned in the videotape shown also on SMN News, the laws that govern St. Maarten do not say that a Minister has to resign because the person who appointed him is under investigation.
It is now left to be seen how democracy works on St. Maarten and if the political leaders will bow to the demands of the people and good governance or if they will stick to the law they wrote and approved when St. Maarten became a country within the Kingdom.
In the meantime, SMN News contacted the Leader of the United Peoples Party Theo Heyliger for a reaction on the accusations levied against him by Jaap van den Heuvel regarding the videotape but Heyliger did not respond to the email. SMN News mentioned to the UP leader that we need a telephone interview with him or a statement that is written by him and not anyone else and we also asked the UP Leader to provide us with any type of documentation he may have that will show contrary to the accusations levied against him by Jaap van den Heuvel.
Over two years ago at least four persons working at the Philipsburg Police Station (police officers and administrative workers) admitted to the Police Internal Affairs that the Leader of the United Peoples Party offered them $300.00 to vote for him during the 2010 elections. The penal code of St. Maarten considers bribery as a crime or even offering someone a bribe is also a crime. Even though the Election fraud case is over two years old that case still cannot make it before a judge.
Independent Member of Parliament Romain Laville said on a number of occasions and again Sunday night that the UP Leader offered him $350,000.00 to return to the party he left in April last year. It should be noted that offering someone a bribe is a crime and while Laville has soaked quite some blows since he left the UP Party it is not yet known if Laville took it a step further and filed a complaint against the UP Leader Theodore Heyliger.
