Former UP Member of Parliament Rolando Brison
~ Dos Santos and Gehani fully acquitted ~
PHILIPSBURG--Former Member of Parliament, representing the United People’s (UP) party, Rolando Brison has been sentenced by the Court of First Instance of Sint Maarten in the “Lissabon” case, which concerns official bribery.
Brison was accused of accepting bribes from three individuals during his time as a member of Parliament, including cash payments, in exchange for favoring these individuals.
The Court ruled that bribery could not be proven in two instances; consequently, both lottery boss Robbie dos Santos and businessman Sunil Gehani of St. Kitts were fully acquitted of bribing Brison. The Prosecutor’s Office’s position that the alleged payments were bribes tied to Brison’s work on banking and cryptocurrency legislation was rejected.
In one instance, however, bribery was established. The Court found it proven that Brison favored co-suspect Johan “Alex” Dijkhoffz, in various ways in exchange for, among other things, money and airline tickets.
In its judgment, the Court emphasized that citizens must be able to trust that public officials are not guided by personal interests in the performance of their duties. It stated that penalties must clearly demonstrate that such conduct will not be tolerated and will be acted upon.
The Court imposed prison sentences in the case. Brison was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. The sentence for Brison is substantially lower than the 24-month unconditional prison term the Prosecutor had demanded.
In addition, Brison has been disqualified for a period of five years from holding public office and from the right to stand for election. He has also been ordered to repay the gifts he received between 2020 and late 2022, amounting to US $7,980.
Dijkhoffz received a four-month prison sentence. He had already been convicted on March 26 in the Jasmine case of bribing former MP Cristopher Emmanuel, leader of the Nation, Opportunity and Wealth (NOW) party, and was sentenced to 11 months’ imprisonment. He has now received an additional four-month sentence in the present case. In sentencing Dijkhoffz—reducing the 12 months demanded by the Prosecutor to four months—the Court took into consideration that he is seriously ill.
