This Monday the verbal proceedings will close
Public Prosecutor has to decide if it will prosecute suspects in the case of Natalee Holloway
Bon Dia Aruba
3/15/2006

ORANJESTAD – There is a strong indication that the Public Prosecutor will close the investigation in the Holloway case. This can be concluded by the interim decision of the Curaçao judge in the case of damages for prejudice that the van der Sloot family brought against the government.

In an interview with Bon Dia Aruba, the attorney for the van der Sloot family, Mr. A. Swaen, revealed that the Curaçao judge said that he wants to obtain more information before he can take a decision about the van der Sloot family lawsuit.

The judge showed that the Public Prosecutor informed that this month the verbal proceedings [procesverbaal] of the investigation will come to an end and afterwards, in a short period of time, they will have to decide if they will prosecute the suspects.

This clearly shows that the Public Prosecutor has to end the investigations and that now they will have to decide, on the basis of the investigation results, if they will prosecute the suspects.

Mr. Swaen explained that the reason why the Curaçao judge wants to obtain the final verbal process [procesverbaal] and also the Public Prosecutor decisions whether they will prosecute the suspects or not, is to evaluate if there were forms of pressure used, and if this could have caused harm to the van der Sloot family. The judge showed that the fact that there is an ongoing penal investigation against Joran van der Sloot makes Joran van der Sloot’s position different that the other members of the family.


The judge instructed the Public Prosecutor to hand over the verbal proceedings [procesverbaal] and the decisions about the prosecutions to the court clerk, at the latest on Monday, April 3.

The Public Prosecutor also has to hand over a copy of the verbal proceedings [procesverbaal] to attorney A. Swaen who can react to it. The judge stipulated that if Mr. Swaen wants to react, he has to do so in writing and this has to be delivered to the court clerk at the latest on April 17. The judge from Curaçao will evaluate this and will hand down the verdict on May 1st. By the interim decision, it can be concluded that this month, the Public Prosecutor has to decide whether it will pursue the suspects in the Holloway case or not.