Dear Editor,

There was a businessman who had a profitable enterprise. He had a favourite employee. This employee was more affable and capable than all the rest. The businessman also had a rich uncle. One day, this rich uncle, who had come to his assistance on many a dark day, and in whose care, he had entrusted his children when they went off to school, came to him and said. “I know you love this employee, but I am sorry to tell you that he has been stealing from you”.

The businessman was shocked. He immediately summoned the employee and confronted him in front of his uncle. The employee protested his innocence and said, “But have I not done this for you and that for you and made your company prosper?”. He then accused the uncle of always having it in for him. He declared that the uncle was jealous of his boss’s success and wanted the riches of the business for himself. He accused him of a nefarious agenda and finally rested his case by saying, “Where would you be without me, your other employees are clowns, what will you do then? “

The businessman, instead of saying to him: “Those things you performed for me were paid for, and handsomely so”, turned to his uncle and said: “I don’t want to hear or see anything you wish to show me pertaining to my servant’s guilt, and should you persist, I will banish you from our home”.

Conscious that he was being watched, the employee banded together with the other servants, whom he had called clowns, and together they urged the businessman to ignore the advice and assistance of the uncle. While they enriched themselves, the business suffered and when famine came, the businessman and his household were destitute with no one to come to their aid. As for the rich uncle, he continued doing just fine.

We West Indians are a joyful, friendly and trusting people. We love our events, in fact we live for them. There is one to be held soon, on Wednesday, in front of the government administration building. But as you lay out your most stunning red, white and blue outfit, pause for a moment and ponder my parable; consider that you are being used as a political pawn, under the guise of patriotism, against your own self interests.

Wishing you all love and light.

Name withheld at author's request.

Dear Editor,

The law must take its course has become a cliché, a pseudonym within the bounds of our community, for the better part of the past six years, the so-called “catfish” investigation has played cat-and-mouse games. It conveniently surfaces at strategic moments, seems to serve some purpose that it is meant for and vanishes into some storage shelf until its resurfaces again. Stop holding our country and our progress to ransom.

Time and again this strategy is rerun with many community leaders, if an investigation begins on some solid grounds, then I would like to know, why an investigation stalls for lengthy periods of time and at times seems to be moving like a racing car. Although Law must take its course, however, justice must be swift and just. Our people’s minds are depraved with this negativity and a sense of losing faith in the system.

What message are we sending to the outside world? Sint Maarten – the laughing stock of the Caribbean? The country where not to invest? A corrupt nation? An unreal Island?

I pray that justice must take its course, justice for our leaders for they must not be subjected to such senseless character assassination, Justice for the people of Sint Maarten, for the general population, is the one at the receiving end.

Post Irma, just when we are barely standing on our feet, just when the negotiations with the World Bank are in the final stages, when the airport issue is finally being resolved, housing programs taking shape, dump issue ongoing, hotels reopening, cruise lines showing confidence, tourism returning, and I can go on and on.

Just when, who do you think is at this receiving end? It is all of us; it doesn’t matter whether you are black, white, blue or rather any other shade of the spectrum. We all need continuity in the government, we cannot afford to lose focus on bringing back jobs, bringing back schools, healthcare, environment and above, all harmony within the communities.

MP Theodore Heyliger has been a community leader since 1995; as long as I have known him, he is prudent, a true visionary and time and again the people’s chosen leader. His perspective solutions may at times be seen as extreme by some, but in reality, they are ‘out of the box’ and bang on effective.

I urge the good office of the Prosecutor to see the case with the merit it deserves and not by the impressions and perceptions that are blown out of proportion by those with hidden dark agendas and desires.

I stand up against any and all forms of victimization in politics, such decadence and demeaning of democracy must not engulf our sweet Sint Maarten Land. I stand with Theo. Let our leaders lead!

Sidharth Bijlani

Member of Parliament

Dear Editor,

Just recently, my daughter told me, “On St. Martin, you are guilty until proven innocent and even then, you still remain guilty.” Her statement jolted my memory and then it came back to me, eight years ago, I had written an opinion piece titled: “Where there is smoke… Character assassination and the culture of suspicion.” At the time, I had absolutely no inkling that I would be roped in as a co-defendant in the ongoing case code-named “Colade,” which is yet to be heard in court.

This is what I wrote then: “It takes a lifetime of painstaking and consistent hard work, diligence, and dedication to build a career and a good name; it takes just one sentence of unsubstantiated suspicion to destroy one’s integrity and character.

The much-publicized suspension of Regina Labega and Edward Dest of St. Maarten Tourist Bureau is the latest in what has become an ongoing saga in which our leaders, our very best and brightest are chopped down, first in the court of public opinion, where they have no redress, and later in the court of law where they may or may not be exonerated. What is disturbing about this trend is what I choose to call the culture of suspicion which is based on the popular saying, “Where there is smoke, there is fire.”

Really? How can we, in the same breadth then claim that a suspect is innocent until proven guilty? By stating where there is smoke, there must be fire, have we not already concluded that the suspect must have done something wrong? In so doing, the onus is now on the suspect to prove otherwise, rather than on the accuser to prove beyond any shadow of doubt, his/her accusations. This is turning the foundation and principles of justice and fair play on their head.

Presumption of innocence is thrown out of the window when we declare there is no smoke without fire. It grants the accuser the upper hand in that the accuser is presumed to be incapable of false accusations or to be infallible in his or her suspicion. Contrary to our portrayal of justice as a blindfolded lady, justice is not blind, and often times it is not a lady, and does not act in a lady-like manner either.

We all know about kangaroo courts. We all know, too, that if the system decides to go after you, it will find any stick to beat you with. The pity is that the public generally does not see the system at work, but prefers to believe, indeed, that nobody is evil enough to crucify another human being without any reasonable cause. I believe the biblical example of Jesus Christ settles that argument. If He who is without sin could be put to death on false accusation, who are we mortals?

It is important for us to focus on some aspects of our judicial process. In a criminal procedure, if you are suspected of a crime, you are arrested, detained and brought before the Judge of Instruction who will determine if you have a case to answer and if you should continue in detention. Until you are actually convicted in a court of law, you are still presumed innocent, regardless of how long you spend in detention. However, the longer you are detained, the quicker the presumption of innocence evaporates. At any event, the crime(s) you are suspected of committing must be disclosed to you from the onset of the investigation.

We often focus on the way something is done because we are a people who show respect even to our enemies. There is an unwritten code which we honour when we have to perform unpalatable tasks involving certain calibre of people in our community. For example, you don’t slam the handcuffs on a father in front of his children, no matter what he may be accused of. Actions like this, however, are designed precisely to create that smoke and lead people to believe there “must” be some fire somewhere.

This is the kind of smear that cannot be removed with the best stain remover from the fabric of one’s integrity, no matter how innocent the suspect turns out to be. Is this fair? Is it just?

Such character assassination based on a culture of suspicion hurts even more when the victim is someone who has given his or her entire life and career to the service of the same community. What message are we sending to the rest of the population, especially the younger ones, when those who should ordinarily be given medals of merit for their unselfish service to society are hounded down like petty criminals and their names dragged through the mud because of a suspicion of wrongdoing?

I will not delve into the case of the two highest-ranking officials of St. Maarten Tourist Bureau in order not to contaminate an already-poisoned atmosphere which raises too many questions than one can find answers to.”

Need I say more? It is clear that on St. Martin, the universal and time-honoured tenet that one is innocent until proven guilty, smacks of a farce. And even when you’re proven innocent, the damage is already done, and you still cannot wash away that scarlet stain of guilt.

Thank you, Ife.

Fabian Badejo

Dear Editor,
The Prosecutor’s Office lacks a tremendous amount of public trust, but who says that it is completely unjust? Not so in this current state of affairs that surrounds the dilemma of the UD leader. Even though Theo might be upset right now, this is one time he must be grateful to the Prosecutor’s Office for saving him from the onslaught of some members of his own backbiting team – backstabbers, who are hiding their shame by pretending to be in defence of his name.
All of a sudden, these hypocrites emerged like woodlice from a rotten house, trying to sympathize with Theo, when they themselves have already brought down the gavel and pronounced him guilty – the guilty sentence that would have changed the governing composition and flung him into opposition, if this situation had not been interrupted by the prosecution. Theo has to look up in the sky and make the sign of the cross, for this timely distraction.
It was shocking to see even those who called The Daily Herald a racist and biased newspaper, and forbid the population from buying the paper, still use it as a vehicle to deliver their messages. But their actions are obvious; they coincide perfectly with the saying, “Who have cocoa in the sun, must look out for rain.” These hypocrites know if the UD leader is convicted, the Pandora box will split open and the dreaded mystery will become known.
To put it bluntly, the reasons they are kicking up now is because their positions are threatened. The uncertainty of being able to continue riding on Theo’s back has become a nightmare for many. So, what better way than to pretend that they care, because if Theo is condemned by the court, the effects of the shift in local politics will be similar to that of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
What was stunning is the reaction of the Minister of General Affairs. Isn’t the separation of powers applied to all cases, regardless of status, creed or race? What about the child molesters that are accused of such vile acts and still walking around freely in this community? How about those that have been released by the court, plus the many unsolved cases of youngsters, who were gunned down senselessly? Where was the support for them and their families?
The Dutch are not squeaky clean, neither is any nation on the face of the earth. To blame them for everything that goes wrong is plain stupid, and to drag the whole community into the perception of being corrupted, is even worse. In fact, it is a way of wiggling themselves out of their own mess, because the reports were specific in detailing who are engaged in corruption and where the dishonesty is concentrated.
With all the hoopla, who say that the accused and other condemned politicians are truly innocent, to begin with? Which journalist has asked Theo point blank or any other politicians, if he or they have committed the crime that was brought before them? When the other cases of vote buying, and the Causeway come into swing, what will happen then? As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, lack of evidence does not mean that the accused hands are clean.
Politicians are not exempt from being persecuted. All of them who do wrong, should receive the full extent of the law, because they have accepted the position of leadership and a leader must set the example for his or her community. It is rather strange that this inquiry is about a case that was filed by a former MP, yet a similar charge was echoed in parliament and that incident went dead. Why is that?
Like a cheating spouse or an addicted child molester, no politician nor their unscrupulous supporters, will ever admit to this kind of wrongdoing. They would rather blame the system or someone else, even if the truth is staring them in the face. But as we all know, “Truth is like a surgery. It hurts but it heals. A lie is like a painkiller. It gives instant relief but has side effects forever.”

Joslyn Morton