One has to know to separate facts and stop dragging people in without a basis to do so
Baseless accusations against and about Gerold Dompig could end up in court
The Commissioner has involved his lawyer to take steps if necessary
Bon Dia Aruba
4/20/2006

ORANJESTAD – The case of the investigation on the disappearance of Natalee Holloway took various turns during the course of last year. Turns that sometimes had nothing to do with the case directly, but rather with the actors [principals?] involved in the investigation. One of the names that is constantly mentioned is that of Gerold Dompig and his tactics or according to some, lack of tactics as to how to deal with the investigation.

All the time the Commissioner has distanced himself from this due to how he is a person of high rank in the police force, it is logical that he has to carry a heavy load and put up with many things. But even this has limits.

DOMPIG’S VERSION

Bon Dia Aruba got in contact with the Commissioner to hear his version about everything that has been talked about these last few days, to get his version of this whole matter. Mr. Dompig was a little hesitant, but indicated that it could be good to set everything straight, to avoid that this situation becomes worse than it already is.

INSINUATIONS

Dompig indicated that one has to stop insinuating things that are not true. If any person has any information that he believes is not right, he has to take the legal steps for an investigation to take place and not bring in people’s names in newspapers as they see fit, because this causes harm to the family unnecessarily. Particularly, Dutch newspapers are putting forth accusations and insinuations that could have easily have been verified with all the means the Dutch newspapers have in their power.

USING THE NAME OF HIS SON

The fact that now they’re using the name of his son, and have linked him to the arrest of the most recent detainee in the case, has also been very difficult for the Commissioner. It is true that Dompig’s son worked in the Visibility Team with the detainee, but this does not necessarily mean that they are friends. To use his son’s name and link them together and put the Commissioner’s credibility in play, is going too far.

GOING TO COURT

A very important point is that Commissioner Dompig is clear about stopping the matter of bringing in his name, and has put this in his lawyer’s hands. As of yesterday, everything published about him that is not true and has no basis, will be observed and noted to possibly fight this in a legal way in court. Everything has a limit, and this is where he has reached his limit.

MESSAGE

His strong message is that if a person has thoughts of using his name, criticize his tactics, then make sure that they have a basis, otherwise another guy will sing. The fact that he went on television and stated certain things, was done with the approval of authorities. Everything that was presented on television, he has a way to defend himself in front of his superiors if he has to justify his presentation. And if there are people who want to criticize, they can but in the right way, approaching the Public Prosecutor and not baseless attacks in the media.

RESPECT FOR HIS WORK

He is aware that many people do not like his way of working, and he respects this. But the fact remains that he is a police authority, one of the 4 Commissioners who have their responsibilities to bear. “You may not like him, but you respect him”, Dompig continued to say. And by criticizing his function and his name, you are criticizing Aruba, given that Aruba gets a bad name abroad when this happens. Let the investigation run its course and when it is closed, you will see what comes out. Police many times use tactics that are not known by civilians. As such, many times it is difficult to understand certain steps and it is easy to criticize without any basis.

[translated by Getagrip]