WILLEMSTAD--As expected, former Prime Minister of Curaçao Gerrit Schotte and his life partner Cicely van der Dijs are appealing the verdicts in the "Babel" case.
Defence attorney Eldon Sulvaran indicated such immediately after the ruling. In an appeal process usually the sentence is suspended to await the outcome.
The Prosecutor's Office indicated they would indeed await the decision of the Court of appeals. A panel of three judges will examine whether the cases presented in the Court of First Instance were proven and also review the sentencing.
According to a local expert cited by Curaçao Chronicle it regards a bit of a gamble, because the Court of Appeals can also increase the number of years that the MFK-leader and his spouse have to serve in prison.
The judge has sentenced Schotte to three years for forgery, corruption and money laundering. He was also deprived of the right to stand for elections for five years.
The court indicated that Schotte by his actions seriously damaged the trust of the citizens in an honest government.
In an interview right after the court’s decision, Schotte said that the voters will still be able to vote for him as the leader of his party in the coming elections this year, because the sentence on passive suffrage is also suspended.
