SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – Two police officers standing trial for their involvement in the death of Aruban tourist Mitch Henriquez should not be held responsible for his death, the prosecution service said on Monday.

Henriquez died in July 2015, a day after being arrested by a team of five officers at the Zuiderpark in The Hague. Police said they responded after he claimed to be carrying a gun.

Video footage of the scene showed the 42-year-old being restrained using a choke hold before his motionless body was bundled into a police van. His death triggered several nights of rioting in The Hague’s Schilderswijk district, where there has been a history of tension between the police and the large minority ethnic population.

Two of the five officers were charged with fatally assaulting Henriquez after an initial pathologist’s report concluded that he had died as a result of the choke hold. All five have been internally disciplined by the police but none has been dismissed.

But in court on Monday, the prosecution said it had concluded on the basis of other expert witnesses that his death was the caused by acute stress syndrome. Therefore the officers could not be held responsible.

Excessive force

The officers were guilty of assault but should not face punishment because they had already suffered enough, the prosecution said. The court was told they had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and received threats since the incident.

They gave evidence in court from behind screens and their voices were distorted to protect their identity. The prosecution said the officers had used excessive force in restraining Henriquez.

One officer, identified in court as DH02, punched the victim as he lay on the ground and rubbed pepper spray in his face, in breach of police guidelines. ‘There was no need to use violence to speed up the arrest,’ said the prosecution lawyer.

‘The officers should be held to account for their choices.’

Family walked out    

Last week most of Henriquez’s family walked out of court after it emerged that the prosecution had based its case on low-quality video footage of his arrest.

The films were copied from better quality originals which were produced in court by defence lawyer Richard Korver. The internal investigation team which reviewed the case said that the better quality footage had been left out of the case files because of an administrative error.

But the family claimed it showed the case was a ‘phantom trial’ to prevent the truth emerging. Before leaving the courtroom, Korver said the investigation was so riddled with errors that a fair trial was impossible.

‘We have no choice other than to indicate in this way to the court, but also to the public prosecution service and the internal investigation unit, that this investigation is simply substandard.’

Lip readers

Korver said the original footage revealed details that contradicted the prosecution’s case. He said Henriquez appeared to turn blue in the film, whereas experts who relied on the inferior material concluded that he was not deprived of oxygen because he had not turned blue.

Korver also called two police lip-readers to study the video footage in court. The witnesses said police officers had said to each other ‘Seems dead to me’ and ‘he’s stopped responding’.

But defence lawyers for the officers claimed that their words were being misinterpreted and that they had said Henriquez was ‘dead tired’ rather than dead.

The family failed in an earlier bid to have all five officers put on trial for causing Henriquez’s death and lost a bid to have their names disclosed so they could bring a civil case against them. (DutchNews)

SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – A group of pro-Zwarte Piet campaigners blocked the A7 motorway for a time on Saturday morning, halting two buses taking anti-Zwarte Piet campaigners to the Frisian town of Dokkum ahead of the ‘arrival’ of Sinterklaas.

The buses containing anti-racism campaigners were heading for Dokkum to take part in a legal demonstration at a pre-arranged location. However, as the buses neared the town of Joure, several vehicles driven by people from the pro-Piet camp pulled up in front, forcing the drivers to stop.

Campaigner Jerry Afriyie told RTL news a motorbike suddenly appeared in front of the bus, causing it to brake sharply. ‘It was too insane for words,’ he said. ‘They are stopping us from exercising our democratic right to demonstrate.’

The police claim it took 20 to 25 minutes to clear the road but said there were no arrests. Other reports suggest the blockade could have lasted up to an hour. The buses carrying supporters of the Kick Out Zwarte Piet movement continued their journey to Dokkum under riot police escort.

NRC journalist Kasper van Laarhoven, who was travelling in one of the buses, said after 20 minutes the demonstrators realised that they were not heading for Dokkum after all.

The driver pulled up on the hard shoulder and a police officer entered the bus, telling the occupants that the demonstration had been banned after all and that they were being escorted back to Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

Mayor

‘There were indications that there could be more blockades and that pro Zwarte Piet activists were already in the town,’ mayor Marga Waanders told a press conference later Saturday afternoon.

Asked if the decision to ban the demonstration meant that Piet supporters had had their way, the mayor said: ‘Safety is paramount – the safety of both the anti and pro camps. I am happy that the blockade only led to minor damage to cars and that no-one was hurt.’

The boat carrying Sinterklaas arrived in Dokkum around 12.30 and the welcome ceremony took place without incident. Most of the pieten on board the boat were traditional versions of the Sint’s helper, played by white people in blackface make-up.

There were also several pieten with sooty faces. According to research by the AD, most local councils are planning to stick to the traditional black or brown-faced pieten and just 17 will include pieten with sooty faces in their parades.

Zwarte Piet is traditionally played by a white person in blackface makeup but over the years protests against the racist stereotype have been growing, culminating in demonstrations and scores of arrests.

Dutch celebrities, including actors who have played Zwarte Piet, have also called for change.

Chimneys

Now in some towns and cities, the blackface pieten are being replaced by other versions, including pieten with different coloured makeup and sooty smudges to show they have been down chimneys to deliver gifts.

Amsterdam has said it will move further away from the stereotyped blackface make-up and page attire at its official Sinterklaas parade on November 19.

In the capital, Sint Nicholas will be accompanied by almost 400 pieten with long, wavy brown hair and costumes based on the clothes of 16th century Spanish noblemen. Their outfits will also sport the three Andreas crosses to denote Amsterdam. (DutchNews)

PHOTO CUTLINE: Sinterklaas in rainy Dokkum. Photo: Corne Sparidaens / HH

COLE BAY - Hyundai Motor Corporation (HMC) and Shell working together with Motorworld, have pledged $150,000 in post-hurricane relief support to St. Maarten/St. Martin, and the surrounding region. HMC is a multinational automotive manufacturer of the Hyundai brand vehicles which are sold by Motorworld, the exclusive dealership in this region.

“As we remain steadfast in our efforts to recover and rebuild after the devastation caused by the hurricanes, we are truly excited about this opportunity to work with HMC and Shell to support the communities that we are a part of, and, proud to serve,” says Tariq Amjad, Managing Director, Motorworld Group of Companies.  

All of the relief support will be invested directly back into the community through Motorworld’s community outreach efforts. This will be done in various forms to provide direct benefits and bring relief to the community. This includes a mobile ‘Soup Kitchen’ with distribution of complimentary soups to individuals in need of a warm meal at various locations throughout the islands.

Further, thousands of care packages with general food and household goods will be distributed, as well as items specifically for the elderly, and parents with babies who are in need of essential childcare items. These activities will take place throughout the months of November and December.

 “With corporate responsibility always in mind, our goal is to provide a sense of relief to the entire community during these trying times. This includes the local businesses that we are working with to purchase these items, as well as various local caterers who will be preparing the soups, and most importantly, also to the residents who are in need,” says Amjad.

Motorworld will be working with their dedicated staff, along with several social organizations and community foundations such as K1 Britannia, the Rotary Club, Helping Hands Foundation, as well as the Government of St. Maarten in order to effectively and fairly distribute the relief goods to various residents who are experiencing unfortunate circumstances.

POND ISLAND – A cultural debate was held in line with the Road to St. Martin Day activities. This debate was held between the Hyacinth Richardson Educational Foundation and the Joint team of the Youth parliament and the Conceil Territorial de Jeunes.

The moot for this debate was tabled as “To be identified as a St. Martiner Cultural Identity is more important than Nationality.

The debate’s program started off by the MC Ms. Amanda Bedminster introducing Ms. Shermina Powell who opened in prayer and she was followed by the 3 winners of the 2016 SXM interscholastic Idols competition singing the SXM song. The event was flanked by a moderator and judges who were very much in tuned with St. Martin’s Culture and nationality.

The teams debated this topic with much enthusiasm as the proposition team was in favor of the moot. They started the debate by elucidating to the fact that various activities, foods, mannerisms, cultural manifestations etc. are what define St. Martiners and therefore Cultural identity is what identifies you as a St. Martiner and not the nationality which is determined by the passport you hold.

The opposition team who was against the moot defended that a person’s nationality is more important than their cultural identity. They started the debate by elucidating and explaining what nationality meant. It was said that Nationality is determined by a person’s citizenship in a country and that nationality is the state of being part of a nation whether by birth or naturalization or ties to a specific nation. In this case for a St. Martiner nationality would be more important because without such you could not be identified with a country.

This debate continued with many reasons why either side was more important and saw the audience being very much engaged in the whole debate. In the end, being that St. Martin is not a nation and as such citizens do not have St. Martin nationality was used by both teams as a part of their arguments both for and against the moot. The focus of the debaters was heavily on the naturalized St. Martiner or St. Martiner of mixed heritage and not on St. Mariners with historical roots to the island. These arguments were also used by both sides to prove their stance on the moot. 

This was indeed the intention of the organizers for the audience and debaters to focus on in an attempt to really get the dialogue on defining a St. Martiner going. 

The debate consisted of 3 members of each team defending their positions and a researcher who did research for the rebuttals.

The proposition team comprised of:

Dawud Chapman 1^st speaker; Diandra Marlin  2^nd speaker; Imani Henry 3^rd speaker; Reanna Thomas researcher.

The opposition team comprised of:

Rochana Richardson 1^st speaker; Ashille Brooks 2^nd speaker; Sarina Alexander 3^rd  speaker; Kamilah Gumbs researcher.                                                                                                                                    

The debate culminated with the proposition team winning the debate with 372 points.

Ms. Sarina Alexander won the best speaker for the debate and gave the rebuttal for the Opposition.

The head cultural historian and author Judge, Daniella Jeffrey, closed after announcing the winners by stressing that the voice of the St. Martiner with strong roots and blood ties to the island should also be heard in this dialogue. 

The Ministry ECYS looks forward to another installment wherein various points of view can be openly discussed in a similar setting by the adults and elders of this 37 square mile island. 

Minister Jacobs thanked the youth debaters for their composure, poise, passion and great speaking ability displayed. The teams were also commended for the level of research they had put on to be prepared for the debate. Minister Jacobs also thanked Connie Francis and the Youth Councils on both sides of the island and Mr. Roberto C. Arrindell for the work they put in to preparing the debater.