Dear Editor,
I have watched the video and come to a quite different conclusion: the facts are not true.
In short: after coming up, the Prime Minister goes first and he has to leave last. But he cannot leave if the others are still standing.
Minister Rutte is the first one to lift his head after all the other persons did a silent prayer. At the moment when all 6 persons have lifted their heads, Mr. Ellis starts turning.
Acting Minister Plenipotentiary H. Ellis is the one on the left side (when watching the video) who is the leading person for the moment of walking away from the wreath-laying. This is always a difficult moment, as that person is the first to move and then the rest (the other 5 persons) have to follow. You can compare this with a military parade, but there the commands are shouted by a commander so the end person (and everybody else) knows when to turn. This ceremony has a protocol to follow. We do not have a commander in charge and the person on the left decides the moment of turning and walking away.
In the video you can see that Minister Plenipotentiary of Curaçao Anthony Begina makes a small move the other way (to the right). He is in doubt for one second before the walking away should take place. Watch closely his body language and his eye movement. Mr. Begina hesitated – for half a second – in following Mr. Ellis and first started turning towards Mr. Besaril, before he realized his error. If he would have turned the right way and walked at the same moment as Mr. Ellis, nothing would have looked strange or awkward.
In the video you can see that almost at the same moment Mr. Ellis is turning also Mr. Rutte is turning but he cannot move as he has to wait for the others to start walking.
And you want a confirmation: look at the picture you placed in the paper and you see 3 people moving (Ellis, Rutte and Bijleveld) while the 3 others stand still as a pillar. Who is wrong here.
So we have the picture and we have the text in the paper and “the heavyweight representative” as mentioned in the paper.
The way the picture is presented is quite a different impression because if you look at the video then it is understandable. Here is one picture taken to prove something that cannot be proven!
It is an insult from the paper and Koelega. The facts are – as explained before – definitely wrong. The name is brought in a political assumption in a way that our Acting Minister is walking away and leaving the others to stand there alone. But that is not right. This is what we call worldwide “fake-news.”
Besides that: there is no complaint from the Dutch officials. This looks like a witch-hunt. Did The Daily Herald make a “double-check” to verify the info? Is the only fact that a person is not aware of something also has to react by phone or mail? In Dutch they say: wij gaan niet over een nacht ijs (do not skate on thin ice).
The Acting Minister Plenipotentiary is requesting The Daily Herald:
1. To come with a rectification by the tomorrow-morning paper of The Daily Herald (5/8/2018).
2. To apologize for printing a picture and a story like this, done by The Daily Herald.
If The Daily Herald is not willing to come forward with the above-mentioned request, the Acting Minister Plenipotentiary gave his lawyer Cor Merx already authorization to start legal procedures.
C.H.J. Merx, LLM
Attorney at Law
Editor’s Note: The Daily Herald stands by its story.
