Former Prosecutor Merx
may be jailed for one year
PHILIPSBURG--Prosecutor Gert Rip took a firm stand against his former colleague Cor Merx who stood trial yesterday on the allegation that he had forged legal documents to obtain telephone records of his ex-girlfriend and her new lover. The former Chief Prosecutor of the Windward Islands may end up in jail if Judge Rick Smid follows the prosecutor’s demand to impose a one-year prison sentence.
As a special condition, the judge was also asked to impose a five-year ban on Merx’s employment as a civil servant in the Netherlands Antilles or its legal successor.
Rip said that although Merx was trying to put up a smoke screen, the case was in fact very simple and easy to prove. Merx confessed that he had made up three documents to obtain the telephone records of his ex-girlfriend and her lover, which is only allowed if a person is suspected of a crime. “I have been acting foolishly,” Merx said himself.
Although it may not be clear whether Merx himself or somebody else at the Prosecutor’s Office drew up these documents, it is clear that Merx was the instigator, according to Rip.
He deemed a prison sentence appropriate, stating that Merx had violated the trust put in him. “A chief prosecutor needs to be of impeccable stature, as he is the man who is supposed to protect law and order. Based on personal motives he misused his power for his personal benefit, which has harmed the foundation of our legal system,” Rip said.
He held it against Merx that he was not showing remorse and was trying to play down the impact of his alleged crime. Merx said many requests had been filed by detectives and prosecutors to obtain telephone records without proper authorisation.
Also, after the hearing of several witnesses, among them Attorney General of the Netherlands Antilles Dick Piar, Merx still claimed that a deal had been made between him and the judicial authorities in Willemstad on December 22, 2004. It provided that he would not be prosecuted if he resigned and returned to the Netherlands. He left in February 2005, citing health reasons.
The Prosecutor’s Office has denied such a deal, saying it was not aware of any possible crime committed by Merx until after his resignation.
Merx said he had been informed of the fact that Willemstad no longer had confidence in him during a so-called “bad weather conversation” in December 2004. Merx said this had to do with the fact that he had refused to hold several politicians in St. Maarten for questioning in connection with the construction fraud investigations that were going on in the Netherlands at the time.
Attorney-at-law Jairo Bloem will plead on behalf of his client on June 29. “We have not put all our cards on the table yet,” said Merx, indicating that he was still optimistic about the outcome of his trial.
St Maarten vacation rental
