Philipsburg: --- Leader of the Pueblo Saberano and parliamentarian Helmin Wiels told SMN News in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that when the new parliament is convened after 10/10/10 he will seek to have former Ministers of Justice Pedro Attacho, David, Dick and Magali Jacoba impeached for the illegal phone tapping taking place within the Netherlands Antilles. Wiels said the new parliament would not limit itself to just impeaching the former Ministers from the PAR government but they would also expand it to the prosecutors and possible judges that are involved in the illegal phone tapping.The parliamentarian and current island council member said politicians on the opposition benches, reporters, police officers and unions leaders were heavily targeted. He said those involved in the illegal tapping went as far as tapping the phones of persons who were not supporting the PAR. It should be noted that several persons on St. Maarten had the same experience, just recently a news report states that leader of the United People's Party Theo Heyliger phone was also tapped.
Wiels said that it has been years now that the members of the PAR government have decided to target politicians that are in the opposition, police officers and reporters by tapping their telephones. He said right now a number of police officers that worked in the three tap rooms in Curacao are speaking out against the illegal tapping simply because this has gone too far. Wiels said there is one particular tap room in Curacao that does not share information with local authorities. That tap room he said is called the "informatsie haishouding" and they share information only with the RST and the AIVD and the Federal Detectives. Wiels said the illegal phone tapping will spark one of the largest investigations in Caribbean history and will be the largest scandal ever known.Wiels further explained that the penal laws of the Netherlands Antilles have various procedures that must be followed when it comes to phone tapping. He said the procedures to tap phones are clearly laid down in the law but over the years the former Ministers of Justice did not follow those laws. He said in the criminal law, the elements and components of crimes are clearly laid down which dictates how investigations are conducted and the methods that must be used in these investigations.
The parliamentarian said the international law on human rights clearly protects the people's privacy everywhere and the Netherlands Antilles is no exception. He said democracy dictates that no one can violate the privacy of an individual based on suspicions. This violation of one's privacy can only be done if the investigators can substantiate their suspicions in front of a judge.Wiels said the persons behind the illegal tapping have used the laws of the Antilles to commit injustice against their people and this kind of behavior is called fascism. They are trying to persuade people to think and talk like the Stateand this is called fascism. Wiels said right now this illegal tapping raised a lot of concerns and they have to ask for the impeachment of those persons who were behind it for the last 15 years.
Wiels said over the years those involved in the illegal tapping have been breaking into people's vehicles and homes to place secret (hidden) cameras. He said hundreds of peoples privacy has been invaded. He said the persons that break into these homes and vehicles have been broken into not once but at least two or three times to either install or to remove the cameras and microphones.
Wiels said his phone was tapped for the past three and a half years and he knew because of the echo that is normally heard when speaking on the phone. He said despite the advance technology in place those involved in the illegal tapping is arrogant and simply does not care whose privacy they invade. He said these people know they are tapping people's phone illegally yet they are doing it harsh and open.
Wiels said this is one of the main reasons the police officers are speaking out against the illegal practice. Asked if he knows the officer who is accused of leaking the information, Wiels said he does not know the officer in question and he cannot say if the officer leaked the information or if he just decided to speak out.
Wiels said one has to realize that these people have broken into homes, vehicles, and offices to place the hidden cameras and microphones and they follow the same procedure to retrieve these devices. In doing so they not only violate the person they are targeting's rights but they also violate the rights of the family members that live in the homes or travel in the vehicles that were targeted. He said the situation right now is outrageous and if the illegal practice is not stopped it will get worse especially knowing those who are the targets. Wiels said politicians know that they were being tapped but when they expand to union leaders, reporters and police officers then something has to be done.Asked about the illegal phone tapping on Tuesday chairman of the parliament of the Netherlands Antilles Pedro Attacho said he did not receive any complaints from the members of the parliament regarding the illegal phone tapping. Attacho said unless the members of parliament inform him about their concerns it cannot be discussed. Attacho also said he can only speak on behalf of parliament and nothing else.