WILLEMSTAD--Gert Rip gave his reply Friday morning on behalf of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Curaçao to statements in the so-called “Babel” trial made by the defendants’ attorney Eldon “Pepie” Sulvaran, followed by a counter-reaction of the defence. Sentencing has been set for Friday, March 11.
It regards the case against former Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte and his life partner Cicely van der Dijs. Rip indicated that all the authorities try to find is the truth. “With all respect for the work done by the defence lawyers, we believe that nothing was brought up to indicate the prosecution failed.”
All those mentioned as part of a supposed conspiracy against the MFK-leader, namely the governor, the Prosecutor’s Office, Orco Bank, the Minister of Justice and even the Public Relations Officer for the prosecution, according to Rip have nothing to do with the case.
“The prosecution decided to prosecute Mr. Schotte and this is not a political witch hunt. We do not persecute only politicians or members of the MFK party. The only reason that they are being prosecuted is because they have done something wrong,” said Rip.
The prosecution is not guilty of “trial by media” as claimed either. The investigation was completely lawful. It started in November 2012 in Rome and was finished in 2013.
Rip also reacted to the argument that funds the suspect couple received from St. Maarten casino boss Francesco Corallo were not gifts in exchange for favours, but part of the party’s fundraising efforts.
“Fundraising must meet two conditions. The first is that it must be done transparently and secondly it must go directly to the political party. The gifts they received were not transparent and the money vanished in pockets of the two suspects privately, not on behalf of the political party MFK,” the prosecutor stated.
But Sulvaran again stated that Corallo had never been given influence on the Curaçao Government or MFK and neither he nor any of his associates was ever appointed to any influential post. Although it’s true that the Dutch-Italian businessman’s right hand Rudolf Baetsen, who later withdrew his candidacy, had been proposed as Supervisory Board member at the Central Bank of St. Maarten and Curaçao (CBCS), this nomination had been approved by the entire Council of Ministers.
None of Corallo’s companies was ever granted a project, the attorney reiterated, while only one email had been sent by Corallo to Schotte asking him for a letter of recommendation to request a US visa. There isn’t any proof such a letter had ever been provided and no visa was granted.
Sulvaran also said the prosecution’s demands were much too high as there are no directly demonstrable disadvantaged persons or victims.
While Schotte and his partner had invoked their right to remain silent throughout the trial, they did make use of the last word. The parliamentarian said his “rebellious period” as a teenager following the divorce of his parents was the reason he ended up a high school dropout and it wasn’t fear to paint him as a bad person.
Schotte asked that if he were to be locked up at least the mother of his child be set free. Baby Sophia should not become the victim of all of this by being separated from her, he added.
Van der Dijs openly wondered how local radio station Z86 could have reported Schotte would be detained before the arrest took place. At that moment he was home preparing an interview with CBA Television at the World Trade Centre (WTC), where he was later held.
She vowed to be strong for her partner, her daughter, her parents and her function as director of a company with about a hundred employees to maintain.
