Court of Appeal finds
Merx guilty of forgery
PHILIPSBURG--The Joint Court of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba presented its decision in the appeal case of former chef de poste of the Windward Islands Prosecutor’s Office Cor Merx Tuesday. He was found guilty of forgery in an attempt to obtain the telephone records of his former girlfriend and her alleged new lover.
For these crimes Merx was given a suspended prison sentence of one year with two years’ probation. He was also banned from any job in the Prosecutor’s Office of the Netherlands Antilles or its legal successor for a period of five years.
The Attorney General had asked the Court to impose a prison sentence of one year, six months of which to be suspended, 240 hours of community service and a fine of NAf. 10,000.
The Court of First Instance sentenced Merx on July 19 to a suspended prison sentence of one year and a ban from any job in the Prosecutor’s Office for five years.
The Appeal Court considered it proven that Merx had forged documents to obtain records of telephone conversations of his ex-girlfriend and her alleged new boyfriend, and that he had submitted these documents at a local telephone company in an effort to obtain these records.
The Court rejected the plea of Merx’s lawyer Jairo Bloem. On behalf of his client Bloem had stated that prior to Merx’s departure to the Netherlands in April 2005 he had closed a deal with the Prosecutor’s Office in Curaçao that he would not be prosecuted for alleged crimes if he would resign and leave the Netherlands Antilles.
Complaints about Merx surfaced in December 2004 during talks between Merx and his superiors. He allegedly was involved in the release of prisoners against payment; he allegedly hampered the cooperation with the U.S. FBI and DEA, he allegedly listened in on his former girlfriend’s phone; he allegedly allowed Dutch detectives to wear weapons during operations in French St. Martin without notifying the French authorities; and he allegedly made unauthorised use of a company vehicle.
During the talks it was discussed under what conditions Merx’s contract would be terminated, said Chief Prosecutor Gilbert Joubert, who was heard as a witness in this case. Joubert said three options had been discussed with Merx: voluntary resignation, termination of his contract, and a criminal investigation followed by dishonourable dismissal when proven guilty.
The Joint Court decided there was no proof of any promises made to Merx that he would not be prosecuted for crimes committed. The Court also rejected the plea that Merx had not had a fair trial because an investigation into alleged crimes had already been launched before he was a suspect.
Pleas that investigations by the Netherlands Antilles Security Service VNA and by Prosecutor Taco Stein had been illegal were also rejected.
The Joint Court considered it proven that Merx had abused his authority as a prosecutor for his own personal benefit. In doing so he not only violated his personal integrity, but also discredited his office, the judges of the Court ruled, stating that Merx had proven to be unworthy and no longer qualified to be a prosecutor. The Court decided not to impose a fine because of Merx’s current financial position.
Merx made it known via his lawyer that he was happy with the judgement, which had not granted the Attorney General’s request for an unconditional prison sentence. “It does not anger me or sadden me,” said Merx.
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