GREAT BAY – The Law Enforcement Council recently presented the Minister of Justice, Edsel Kirindongo, with a report on the enforcement of St. Maarten’s adult entertainment policy, based on inspections between March and June of this year. The report focuses on the aspects of preventing of and enforcement of crimes that are (often) related to the sex industry, like human trafficking, forced prostitution and exploitation. The inspection revealed suspected financial crimes, like money laundering and tax evasion relating to operators in the industry, but these criminal activities fall beyond the scope of the report. The adult entertainment policy refers to…
Author: The Publisher
The findings of the Law Enforcement Council that the enforcement of the prostitution policy is a mess does not come as a surprise, but the report makes it official. When the Border Bar’s proprietor Angel Priest was sentenced in 2012 for human trafficking and exploitation, the prosecutor’s office asked the government to close down the place. Minister of Economic affairs at the time Ted Richardson did nothing, Similar requests are currently pending for temporarily revoking the permits of Le Petit Chateau and El Capitan and possibly also for Hypnotic. But our Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs remains silent on…
GREAT BAY – The appeal of Kevin Maurice Cohen against his conviction for causing a fatal accident that caused the death of former Rotary President Ramesh Bhagwandas Manek has been postponed until March 2 of next year. The case was on the docket of the Common Court of Justice yesterday, but Cohen’s attorney, Eldon Sulvaran, had informed the court that he had been “unexpectedly confronted with matters that demand his full attention.” Those matters are an injunction against the extradition of his client Gregory Koeiman to the United States. While this injunction is only in court next week, the Common…
GREAT BAY – The heat from the killing of Police Officer Gamali Benjamin on August 5 of last year seems to have somewhat evaporated, it appeared yesterday when the main perpetrators, Ridge Damisse and Jovanny Leon appeared in the Common Court of Justice yesterday. Security was light and the two men – serving 20 and 8 years respectively – were just shacked at the ankles. A third suspect, cab driver Obed C. (who was acquitted in the Court in First Instance) was also present. But the appearance did not result in the handling of the appeal. Judge Tamara Tijhuis noted…
GREAT BAY – Young policeman Richmer Michel Patrick York told his story about the events of March 4, 2015 that resulted in the death of Hakeem Isidora yesterday in great detail during the appeal hearing against his conviction to 8 years in the Common Court of Justice. York, 24, described the threatening situation in Belvedere that forced him to use his service weapon to defend himself. Solicitor-General Ton van der Schans however, did not buy the self-defense story of the defendant and his attorney Shaira Bommel, but he offered some leniency with a demand of 6 years. The court will…
If the Richmer York case shows anything, it is that police officers are at risk 24 hours a day. On duty or off duty – it does not make any difference. Oh wait, it does make a difference. When officers wear their uniform, they have the monopoly on violence. So if a rebellious citizen threatens their life, say, with an axe or a spade, they are within their rights when they pull their service weapon and use it when push comes to shove. When they are off duty they routinely carry their firearms as well – and then it becomes…
With the untimely fall of a coalition that never was, questions arise again about the screening process. We do not know whether screening-failures are at the heart of the collapse of the cooperation between the National Alliance and the United People’s party, but as usual the island is buzzing with unverifiable stories. Nobody will have an argument with the idea that this is unhealthy. On the other hand, there seem to be people having problems with the concept that the screening process ought to be confidential. So now we have stories floating around about the screening process, alleging for instance…
GREAT BAY – The coalition of National Alliance and United People’s party is up in the air after the NA signed a coalition agreement with the Democratic Party and the United St. Maarten Party. The three parties have a 9-6 majority in the new parliament. Rumors about the failure of the NA-UP coalition have been circulating for the past week or so, after formateur William Marlin had to extend the deadline for his final report to Governor Holiday several times. While there are only rumors about the true reasons for the failure of this coalition, it is apparent that there…
MARIGOT—“I am in full agreement with the decision taken by the government of the day and the Council of Ministers to boycott the November 11 event,” leader of the political party Movement for Justice and Prosperity (MJP) Louis Mussington says about the boycott by the Dutch side Council of Ministers and the majority of the parliamentarians of the St. Maarten Day celebrations in French Quarter last Friday. He believes that it the unilateral decision by the Préfète Anne Laubies to send the Gendarmes over to Oyster Pond without informing her counterparts Governor Eugène Holiday and Prime Minister William Marlin is…
GREAT BAY- The arrival of five ships in port yesterday was certainly not an unusual sight, but what made the day special was the presence of the Harmony of the Seas, the largest passenger ship in the world owned by Royal Caribbean International. The Harmony of the Seas, the third in the Oasis class has surpassed her sister ships Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. This mega ship has 2,747 staterooms and with double occupancy, it has the capacity to accommodate 5,479 guests. From above, the Harmony of the Seas towered over Anthem of the Seas, which…
