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Dutch Rep on Gay Rights Doesn't Extend to St Maarten

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Feral:
An addendum --

SMX Private Eye


--- Quote ---GREAT BAY--Four suspects in the case known as the "gay-bashing incident" appeared in court yesterday. However, the Court of First Instance has postponed the case until Tuesday, October 31, since one of the victims still has to be heard.

...

Defense lawyers of all four suspects requested the judge to suspend their client's detention, but both public prosecutor as well as Judge Rik Smid opposed this, explaining that all suspects are facing serious charges and suspending their detention would send the wrong message to the community.
--- End quote ---



Daily Herald


--- Quote ---Four persons have been arrested in this case: the men M.S.J. (21) of Guadeloupe, A.H.D. (19) and G.R.C. of French St. Maarten, and the woman M.F.D. (18) of French St. Maarten.

Stein said all four would be charged with attempted murder and manslaughter, as well as with the lesser count of causing severely bodily harm to their two victims.
--- End quote ---

Feral:
Gay beating trial delayed so U.S. victim can testify


--- Quote ---PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten (AP) -- The trial of four men accused of attacking two gay American tourists has been postponed so that a victim can return to testify in a St. Maarten court.

In requesting the postponement, prosecutors said Tuesday that finances kept Ryan Smith, 25, from traveling to the Caribbean country in time for the trial. Chief prosecutor Taco Stein told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his office would help pay for Smith's return for the trial, which is scheduled to resume October 31.

"The government of St. Maarten has also stated its willingness to assist," Stein said by telephone. "After all, this case was not good promotion for the island."
--- End quote ---

Feral:
From the New York Blade:


--- Quote ---The main suspect in an attack on two gay New York tourists that left the victims with serious head injuries has surrendered to authorities in St. Maarten, the chief prosecutor said Tuesday.
   
The man — identified only by his nickname, "Duracell" — was arrested Monday after turning himself in, becoming the fourth person detained for the beatings on St. Maarten, the Caribbean island's Dutch side. He is accused of striking the victims with a tire iron, said Taco Stein, chief prosecutor.
--- End quote ---

Yet another suspect surrenders.

While this is, of course, a welcome development, it does little to improve my opinion of the state of affairs on Sint Maarten/Saint Martin. Waiting for one's criminal suspects to surrender themselves is a rather novel approach.

Feral:
Although I am quite nearly a week late in posting this, further progress has been made in this case.


--- Quote ---Chief Prosecutor in the Windward Islands Taco Stein confirmed Monday that a male Antiguan national residing in French St. Martin and a female French St. Martin-born suspect had been arrested in connection with the brutal beating of two American tourists in the Maho area on April 6.

A third suspect had already been detained on April 24. For the purpose of the investigation the identities of the suspects have been withheld.

"We need a few more days before we can give the names, as we are looking for two others," Stein said.

Stein also reported that investigators were very close to taking possession of the vehicle in which the suspects had been travelling, which was used in a bid to "knock down" one of the victims.
--- End quote ---
source


--- Quote ---Windward Islands Chief Public Prosecutor Taco Stein believes recent reports about the investigation shifting to the island's northern side might have prompted the sudden up-swing in the case. "If you serve time on the French side, you don't stay on the island, you got to Guadeloupe," Stein said, pointing out a much publicized fear of many French residents have of being jailed in Guadeloupe.

The suspects' family members phoned in and reported their relatives' involvement to the Gendarmes who arrested and later handed over the suspect to Dutch authorities, Stein said.
--- End quote ---
source

So, it seems that while progress has been made, it has not in fact been made by the police. Instead, perpetrators are surrendering themselves to the Dutch authorities because they fear the penal institutions employed by the French side of the Island. Hardly heartening. A recent anonymous letter to a Sint Maarten paper highlights the truly lamentable state of police affairs on the island.


--- Quote ---Why are the police in Sint Maarten so ineffective? There may be a host of reasons ranging from lack of resources to outright callous indifference. This may be news to the international press but for those of us living on the island we all know, if you get robbed, raped or beaten you can expect little from the police unless you are somehow connected.

Of course in the Jefferson case it took some time before they realized who he was, and then they started jumping. Perhaps now that the plight of Ms Brandie Black has hit the ABC website they will begin to investigate her case in earnest. One thing that the police on the island do not lack however is authority, they can brandish that in spades when they have a mind to. They seem almost a power unto themselves, invulnerable and unchallengeable. A recent chamber of commerce seminar seeking answers to the crime situation was snubbed at the last minute by police top brass because of a trivial excuse. The organizers should have known better, it is not their style to face the public.

Ms Black and Mr Jefferson should know that the general public of Sint Maarten denounce the crimes that they have been subjected to, and there is a great deal of sympathy on the island for them. It is only logical however to assume that there is a wast amount of people, visitor and citizen, who also have been wronged twice, first by perpetrators and then at the hands of the Sint Maarten police. Victims who never come to our attention because they do not have media access to air their stories, are no less worthy of a decent response from our police.

It may be unfair, but at the end of the day that this reflects badly on our Honorable Lieutenant Governor who after all, is the real chief of police. It is up to him that we must respectfully pose the question, "What are we going to do about it?"
--- End quote ---
source

Feral:
St Maarten Private Eye has posted a remarkably thorough collection of links to the coverage of this story. The blogger also has something to say on the matter. His chief point is, of course, the reason I sought out his blog in the first place.


--- Quote --- I want to straighten out a few things here, particularly for those from other websites and blogs following the story, most of whom know basically next to nothing about the island or the people that live here. Dick Jefferson, one of the victims, wrote a great response letter to the Today newpaper and you all should read it; he is on the right track.

Actually the only thing I would add is that the police are the same with us residents too. Jefferson has it right in that a justified reason behind any possibile boycott of the island would be because the Police Force isn't capable or able to provide safety and service to visitors.

I say "justified reason" because the island is not homphobic nor unsafe for gays, far from it compared to many other islands, or even many cities and towns within the US. Yes, we have the religious nuts who rant about it being evil and that the island will be hit by a hurricane or earthquake if gays are allowed to visit our island. Other islands have the same nuts and I think it was Pat Robertson or someone similar who said the same about New Orleans/Katrina and the planned Gay Parade.
--- End quote ---

It has become clear that while St Maarten has it's fair share of bigots, as do most all places, the island does not (at this time) deserve a reputation for being especially homophobic. Nor should the remarkably inadequate response of the police in this incident necessarily be attributed to bias against gays. But what is also immediately evident from the lengthy list of links provided by St Maarten Private Eye is that the police force on the island isn't adequate for anyone, regardless of orientation, regardless of their status as tourist or resident, and regardless of the type of crime committed against them.

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