Philipsburg: ---A pregnant mother of three was released Monday March 15, 2010, after spending more than 10 days on the floors of the police cells in Philipsburg.The mother was arrested at the airport on March 4 because it was discovered that her passport and that of her three children were false. Her husband, a local St.Maartener that had been married to the young lady for over 4 years saw his wife being locked up and his children sent to the local orphanage. After 4 days in pretrial detention, the woman was released only to be immediately rearrested for immigration reasons.
The family contacted attorney at law Remco M. Stomp who immediately filed an injunction. The hearing was held on Friday, March 12, 2010.
Stomp argued that the only thing that was wrong with the situation was the fact that the passports were false, which in itself indeed was a crime. From that perspective, it was understandable that an investigation was launched, Stomp said. However keeping a pregnant young mother of three sleeping on the floor of the local police station was an obvious irresponsible thus unlawful measure taken by government. Especially since there was no question about the identity of the mother and the children and the fact that she was lawfully married to a St. Maartener who also happened to be the father of the children, Stomp said. Furthermore, the mother had no criminal record. The passports from both the mother and her children were arranged by an acquaintance of the family in the Dominican Republic This acquaintance obviously turned out less reliable than thought. The unfortunate happening was particularly sour for the family for if the family had applied for their passports themselves they would have had no problem getting them.
The main legal technical argument however, that was presented to the judge, was the fact that the mother was officially still in possession of a valid residence permit and the law does not permit detention for immigration reasons if one is legally residing on the island, Stomp said. As a result, the judge immediately ordered the release of the young mother.
Although the Governor initially intended to deport the young mother and revoke her residence permit, he has launched an official investigation in the matter.
