Merx gets away with
suspended sentence
PHILIPSBURG--Former Chief Prosecutor Cor Merx was sentenced Wednesday to a suspended prison sentence of one year and will be banned from any job within the Prosecutor’s Office of the Netherlands Antilles or its legal successor for a period of five years. He was found guilty of forgery in an attempt to obtain the telephone records of his former girlfriend and her new lover.
This case against Merx started rolling in April 2005 after the Prosecutor’s Office obtained e-mail messages in which Merx falsely informed the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement that several persons, among them his ex-girlfriend, were suspects of a crime. He did so in a bid to obtain these persons’ travel plans.
Merx was found guilty of two of the four charges on the indictment. Judge Rick Smid considered the other charges not proven, despite Merx’s own statements in which he admitted having requested telephone records of his ex-girlfriend by using false documents. However, the judge was of the opinion that these statements were not sufficiently sustained by other proof.
Judge Smid rejected all other elements in the plea of attorney-at-law Jairo Bloem. A main point in Merx’s defence was the alleged promise of the Prosecutor’s Office that he would not be prosecuted after his departure for the Netherlands. After hearing several witnesses “there is not even a beginning of credibility” that explicit promises were ever made that Merx would not be prosecuted for any crimes, the judge indicated in his ruling.
He further indicated that Merx had had a fair trial and that the defendant’s rights had not been violated in any way. He also dismissed Bloem’s statement that the proof in this case had been obtained illegally.
Bloem had stated that Prosecutor Taco Stein had requested documents from telephone company TelEm prior to his inauguration on December 15, 2005. Stein was therefore not authorised to obtain said documents, which therefore should be considered illegitimate, Bloem said.
The investigation in Merx’s case was led by Prosecutor Walter Tielkemeijer in Curaçao, who had requested said information over the phone. Stein had merely confirmed these requests in writing, the judge stated in his ruling. He saw no reason to disregard proof that would have been obtained via these documents.
Judge Smid concluded that Merx, driven by jealousy and in a difficult period in his life, had seriously misused his authority as a prosecutor. He considered a substantial prison sentence to be appropriate, but also took into consideration Merx’s age and career as a prosecutor, as well as the fact that Merx had already been punished by the publicity about his case. His arrest and incarceration must have weighed heavily on him, according to the judge.
Bloem said he was pleased with the outcome of the trial. “My client has been acquitted of two of four forgery charges. The initial charges of threatening with a firearm and making misuse of his office have been dropped altogether.”
Bloem indicated that in his eyes his client should have been fully acquitted. “The proof in the other cases was obtained illegally, because in my eyes Prosecutor Stein was not yet authorised to carry out these investigations. I really think the judge made a mistake,” said Bloem. He added that Merx was considering a possible appeal.
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