The appointment of a new Kingdom Detective Cooperation Team RST chief who also will lead the Combating of Undermining Team in St. Maarten (see related story) is in principle good news. After all, so much has been said about the Dutch wanting to fight
perceived corruption and organised crime on the island that readers probably were starting to wonder if and when something actually would happen.
The Netherlands has reserved 22 million euros to strengthen local law enforcement and fight particularly illegal activities that weaken the legal system. Parliamentarians in The Hague had spoken of structural ties between the upper- and underworld, of which Attorney-General for the counties Curaçao and St. Maarten as well as the public entities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (the BES islands) Guus Schram said there were enough indications.
So the time for talk is over and the upcoming investigations should show to what extent the latter is true. Law-abiding citizens obviously have nothing to fear.
However, those who believe they somehow may have become involved in such serious offences – perhaps against their will or better judgement – would do well to come clean. They now ought to opt for – on their own terms – working with authorities, before it’s too late.
There is no reason to believe the exercise could result in so-called witch hunts that conflict with the “innocent until proven guilty” standard, but – as always – the proof of the pudding is in the eating. That the person heading the special team will be based in Curaçao is somewhat regrettable, but at least the extra effort to combat border-transgressing and society-eroding crime finally has a face.
Cooperation from the public remains essential, taking into account certain safeguards to protect individual rights like people not having to incriminate themselves. It’s not for nothing this was one of the main issues with the proposed Integrity Chamber on which the Constitutional Court is expected to rule Friday at the request of the Ombudsman.
