Judge rejects petition
for Merx’s release and
Manning’s removal
PHILIPSBURG--An examining judge in the Court of First Instance in Curaçao on Tuesday rejected a petition for the release of former chief prosecutor Cor Merx from detention at the Pointe Blanche prison.
The 20-point petition filed on Merx’s behalf by his attorney Jairo Bloem contended that, among other things, there were no “indications of a reasonable suspicion of guilt that Merx could have committed forgery.”
This was confirmed Wednesday by both Bloem and Press Prosecutor of the Attorney General’s office in Curaçao Ludmilla Vicento.
Bloem said the main point of his petition had been a request for the removal of Investigating Judge Wilfred Manning from the case, but another investigating judge, Henk Wattel, had responded to his petition and confirmed that Manning was entitled to hear Merx.
The former chief prosecutor, who has been detained since Friday, December 9, on suspicion of fraud, forgery and misusing his position as a prosecutor, is expected to make another appearance tomorrow, Friday, before an investigating judge who will decide whether the Prosecutor’s Office should be allowed to prolong his detention beyond Monday, December 19.
Vicento confirmed that a hearing to request an extension of Merx’s detention would have to take place within a few days and for sure before December 19.
Merx was first detained for six hours, which was extended to two days by Manning on Friday. Following that, his detention was extended an additional eight days, which will officially end Monday.
Vicento did not say if Manning would preside over the hearing expected on Friday or why Bloem’s petition had been dealt with by an investigating judge in Curaçao. She said the Prosecutor’s Office could not influence the choice of judges, as that was the responsibility of President of the Courts of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba Luis de Lanooy.
A report in another newspaper had suggested that Manning had acted incorrectly by allegedly having private conversations with the investigating prosecutor on at least three separate occasions in Merx’s absence last Friday
Vicento said, “We want to stress that the first judge, Manning, who evaluated the case on December 9, was correct. On the second occasion Merx’s petition was heard by a different judge.”
Bloem said that while he expected the prosecutor to seek an extension of his client’s detention on Friday, there was little possibility of a suspect’s release within 10 days, as the prosecution merely needed the suspicion of a crime to make an arrest.
Meanwhile, Merx remains behind bars in an isolation cell at the Pointe Blanche prison.
Merx worked at the law office of Gibson and Associates and would have been sworn in as a lawyer tomorrow, Friday, December 16.
In the meantime, allegations about Merx’s involvement in wrongdoings continue to mount. De Telegraaf and Vigilante newspapers have alleged, for example, that local construction companies gave Merx huge discounts while he was building his house in St. Maarten.
One construction company, Liccom NV, was searched and documents seized by the prosecutor’s office about a month ago. That operation was coupled with similar operations in Holland at the home and office of a man said to be a consultant for Liccom. At the time of the search, representatives of the prosecutor’s office said they were investigating possible fraud, but did not mention Merx being linked to their investigation.
It has also been alleged that Merx is being investigated in connection with a fire at the former Prosecutor’s Office on Front Street during which several files and some computers containing investigation material went up in flames.
De Telegraaf also referred to allegations that the former prosecutor might have pocketed money foreign detainees had paid to become eligible for early release from the Pointe Blanche prison. The Dutch paper apparently confused this with a sum Prosecutor Johan de Vrieze received on June 21, 2004, which was not accounted for. It was later indicated that the receipt was a copy.
St Maarten Apartment for vacation rental
