STOP THE VICTIMIZATION
On behalf of my client, police inspector Carlton PHILIPS, I would like to make the following statement:
On, February 10th 2009, the Acting Police Chief, Mr. Doran, informed him of an accusation against him pertaining to the destruction of information several years ago when he worked at the CID.
ThIs malicious accusation was immediately, vehemently denied by client. On February 11th 2009, he requested an investigation to prove his innocence and to clear his name and restore his honor.
After he did not receive any answer on his request, he repeated his request in the months of March and April 2009.
During the months that followed, several influential persons were approached and requested to help in securing an investigation. Unfortunately all his efforts were unsuccessful.
On September 10th 2009, after waiting for seven months for management to clear his name and restore his honor, he took a very painful decision to go public with this matter and expose some of the wrongs in the police force in the hope that things will change for the better..
First and foremost he wanted his name cleared and the victimization stopped..
In less than a month after going public, two members of the internal affairs division of Curacao arrived in St. Maarten. An investigation was carried out, clearly with the aim to establish if he did anything criminally wrong in order to prosecute and punish him.
The investigation has been completed since the end of October 2009.
A request was forwarded to the Minister of Justice and to Mr. Doran requesting a copy of the report and or information concerning the outcome of the investigation. The Minister of Justice referred him to the Public Prosecutor’s office.
My client has since been waiting for the results of the investigation.
He read in the media that the Chief Prosecutor Mr. Mos indicated that he did nothing criminally wrong, and that there are no grounds to prosecute him and that the report was handed over to management of the Police force.
To his great surprise recently while working on a murder investigation he was suddenly removed from the case and he learned that the acting chief prosecutor had informed the management of the Police force by letter dated November 26, 2009 that the prosecutors had decided that they will not be working with him. The exact reason(s) for this was not communicated to him.
From a newspaper article in the Today newspaper of Tuesday, January 19th 2010 I understand that the Act Prosecutor is of the opinion that my client alleges that he conspired against him to block his appointment. This opinion is absolutely not correct and totally in-accurate. Client did not make any such allegations but was informed by his superior that the Prosecutor’s office has expressed a preference not to have him appointed as Head of the CID. My client simply requested also to investigate what role the Prosecutors Office played in this matter.
My client finds this very unfortunate and is of the opinion that matter should be dealt with in an more professional manner. Prosecutors are not working for themselves and should not because of personal reasons determine who they will work with or not. If anyone in this office has a personal problem with any colleague in the Police force or any other sector in the judicial chain, this should be resolved in a professional manner without jeopardizing the main tasks and responsibilities of the Police and the Prosecutors office. One cannot decide with whom he/she would want to work without valid reasons substantiated by professional arguments. This office is not a " Private Dutch club".
As for the misleading statements concerning not prosecuting and requesting an apology, supposedly attributed to Mr. MUD, he should take into account the fact that one is innocent until proven guilty. If in the year 2002 my client had destroyed any evidence he most certainly would have been prosecuted and punished. He did not destroy any evidence, consequently he is in his full right to demand that any such allegation levied against him be thoroughly investigated and his good name be cleared and his honor restored in the minds of the Public and for the record.
For that reason he insisted to have this done and also in order to put a stop to the practice of victimizing colleagues for no apparent reasons. Competition for a higher position should be based on performance, knowledge, competence and dedication and not victimizing others in order to prevent them from succeeding. It is my hope that the Minister of Justice, the Police Management as well as the Public Prosecutors Office this take this matter into serious consideration and desist from further victimization of my client and that this matter be resolved in a professional manner as soon as possible. Instead of doing battle against each other parties should cooperate and bundle your energy so that you can focus on the Main Tasks of Protecting the Community and the Maintenance of Law and Order, instead of victimizing your own. Mr. Philips has done nothing, wrong consequently he will never issue any apology for seeking Justice.
On behalf of Inspector Carlton Philips
R.A.Groeneveldt, atty