Philipsburg- Commissioner Louis Laviest newly retained lawyer Remko Stomp in a statement to the press that his client's arrest was arbitrarily and politically motivated and disproportionate. "Mr. Laveist is the last in a series of politically motivated arrests and most likely more will follow," Stomp said yesterday. He said Laveist is fully willing to cooperate with justice department as stated before but will fight both false allegations and accusations.
Stomp said Laveist is expected to inform the public officially at the beginning of this week. And he will elaborate on his statements today.
Laveist is being investigated for forgery regarding work documents and was detained at the Pointe Blanche Prison for nine days.
During his detention last week, Leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot-Williams said that based on the party's policies she had informed the commissioner that, he would have to resign while under investigation. Since Laveist spent over one week in pre-trial detention his portfolios was re-distributed among the other four commissioners.
In the meantime Wescot-Williams said she was unable to reach Laveist after the Federal Detectives released him last week.
The island leader said that she made several attempts to reach her colleague by telephone but unfortunately his telephones were apparently turned off.
During last week's Executive Council Press Briefing, Commissioner Wescot-Williams stated that because of the investigation against the Commissioner she hopes that he will "exercise good judgment" in light of the present circumstances.
Meanwhile, some of the friends of Laveist in the Netherlands Antilles are hoping that he does not resign from the Island Council and advises that he seeks proper advice before making any irrational decisions.
