Wants to obtain documents of penal investigation against Joran
Court doesn’t want to hand down verdict yet in the case of Mr. Paul van der Sloot vs. the Government
Bon Dia Aruba
3/14/2006

ORANJESTAD – The Court from Curaçao wishes to obtain more information on the case, especially that of Joran van der Sloot, before making a decision in the case of damages for prejudice brought forward by the van der Sloot family against the Government.

In an exclusive interview with Bon Dia Aruba, attorney Swaen, who is Paul van der Sloot’s lawyer, made it known that the judge from Curaçao, who represents the Court, made an interim decision in the case.

Mr. A. Swaen, who represents the five members of the van der Sloot family in the case, explains that after he convinced the judge from Curaçao, who represents the Court, that not only Mr. van der Sloot but also the whole family could file for damages for prejudice, on the 13 and 30 of January of 2006 the case was dealt with in Court. The final word was that this month would yield a decision, however it now turns out that there is an interim decision.

Mr. Swaen explains that the judge demonstrated that during the treatment of the case there was a discussion between the Public Prosecutor and Mr. Swaen whether the Court has to obtain all documents of all plaintiffs. The conclusion among the parties was finally that the very limited documents which Mr. van der Sloot presented to the Court would be acceptable.

On the part of the Public Prosecutor, it was demonstrated that the judge will be able to obtain all documents of the case investigation which will be finalized in March 2006 [sic - 2006?] and when the Public Prosecutor will take a decision about the penal prosecution.

The judge found that it would be desirable to obtain this information, given that one of the plaintiffs is Joran van der Sloot, who still has a pending penal investigation. This means that Joran’s position, in the case of damages for prejudice, is different compared to the other members of the van der Sloot family.

The judge wishes to obtain more information, that is to say, documents of the penal investigation against Joran, in order to be able to determine the claims made. Mr. Swaen demonstrated that different claims were presented to show the damages that the family has suffered.

The judge’s decision means that the Court has given the Public Prosecutor time to deposit all information and said that there will be a verdict on May 1st. Mr. Swaen indicated that he also will have to obtain all these documents and also has a right to react to them if he wishes to do so.