PHILIPSBURG:--- The Court of Appeals has rendered its verdict on Tuesday ordering the Prosecutor's Office to conduct a complete retrial of the Masbangu (VOTE BUYING CASE). Press Prosecutor Tineke Kamps confirmed that the verdict was issued on Tuesday afternoon.
Kamps said although the case does not fall under her jurisdiction but that of the Solicitor General Taco Stein she understands that the court ruled that the verdict issued by the Court of First Instance was not correct therefore a complete retrial of the case involving the United Peoples Party and its leader Theodore Heyliger must take place. The Court of First Instance in its ruling said that St. Maarten's Prosecutor's Office has been engaging in class justice when the purposely left out the leader of the UPP in the first trial. The Masbangu case took four years before it reaches the court and when it did it was thrown out by the judge because Heyliger was not charged.
Cick here to read the verdicts rendered on Tuesday on the Masbangu case.
No proof of class justice !
"Masbangu" case referred back to Court of first instance
The Court of Appeal (Hof) on Tuesday May 5th 2015 announced in Philipsburg its decision in the so-called "Masbangu" case. In the case of the ballot box fraud in Sint Maarten the public Prosecutor's Office was earlier declared inadmissible by the Court of first instance.
It concerns the case against the suspects R.C.H.J. (1951), C.J.L.C. (1969), R.H. (1953) and A.R.W.M. (1970), suspected of having sold their vote (election fraud) during the last elections.
Referring to the principle of equality and the prohibition of arbitrariness, the Court of first instance found that the prosecution lost its right to prosecute, since the role of the leadership of the UP was not sufficiently investigated.
The Court of Appeal today has not revealed inconsistent with the principle of equality, the prohibition of arbitrariness or class justice. The judgments of the Court of first instance therefore are destroyed by the Court and the cases are referred back to the Court in the first instance.
Attorney General Office.
