Authorities ask French for
help in gay-bashing probe
St. Maarten--The investigation into the severe beating of two American tourists on the Dutch side on April 6 will probably shift to the French side, as local authorities have asked for the assistance of the French Gendarmes.
Chief Prosecutor Taco Stein said he had no intention of divulging the identity of any of the suspects, including the one who has been in detention since last week, as this could potentially damage the investigation.
He said Monday that, if successful, they would be able to have a joint investigation team comprising French and Dutch officers. He said police had been discussing the case “and we have decided that we have to ask the French for help. I am in contact with the Prosecutor in Guadeloupe and we will probably get a response tomorrow.”
He said the reason for doing this was that “we have established that the majority of the suspects are French nationals, based on testimony of eyewitnesses.” He said while this was a shift in the investigation, it certainly was not a standstill. He hopes to work out details of the working relationship with French authorities in light of the rules governing the separation of the Dutch and French sides.
Stein is pleased that less is being said about the investigation internationally. He said the more that was said the worse it was for the investigation, which was progressing well after 18 days. He attributed this to the fact that one person was allowed to speak for the island following a meeting with the Lt. Governor, the Prosecutor’s Office, police and the Executive Council.
Stein said, “Everyone interprets things their own way and the media will start quoting one person and asking someone else to comment on that quote, giving a lopsided form of information, so we said let’s have one person so we know what will be said and how the media will be informed.”
Regarding concerns that local authorities had not acted appropriately in the initial phase of the investigation nor responded on time when the crime was reported, Stein said he had not received the report yet from Police Chief Commissioner Derrick Holiday, but expected it would be a fair indication of what had gone wrong.
He said, “I trust my police force in that respect, that I get a fair and honest response to my request for an investigation.”
Senior CBS producer Richard Jefferson and researcher for CBS show “48 Hours” Ryan Smith were severely beaten near Sunset Beach Bar on April 6 around 3:00am.
Both men were visiting the island and had visited Bamboo Bernie’s where a group of men allegedly started harassing them after noticing that Smith had hugged his male partner.
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