Infiltrator Van der Eem in Aruba for book
Amigoe.com
02/18/2008

ORANJESTAD -- Patrick van der Eem has arrived in Aruba, where he will tell an American writer his story about the declarations that he elicited from the Holloway-suspect Joran van der Sloot. His Dutch representative Peter Schouten confirmed this to the media yesterday.

A book will be published in the US with the story of Van der Eem (34). The title of the book is going to be ‘Disposed’. He already has an agreement with an agent of a publishing company. The first chapter will be published in the American newspaper, the New York Post.

Van der Eem will tell how he and his family experienced the undercover operation in the disappearance case of Natalee Holloway. Crime journalist Peter R. de Vries brought the entrepreneur from Almelo, Van de Eem, in as infiltrator to get the truth about the disappearance of the American teenager. According to Schouten, there is big interest for the story in the US. He sees a possible box-office hit with Van der Eem revealing the undercover operation.

Common Court confirms judge-commissioner’s decision as to Joran van der Sloot’s freedom
DIARIO Aruba
02/16/2008

ORANJESTAD (AAN): In what relates to the appeal by the Public Ministry against the denial of the judge-commissioner on February 1st, 2008 to detain the suspect, Joran van der Sloot in the Natalee Holloway case, the Common Court of Justice of the Dutch Antilles and Aruba arrived to a decision on February 14, 2008 at 5:30 in the afternoon.

The Common Court confirmed the judge-commissioner’s decision. To arrive at its decision, the Common Court considered that after taking note of the video and audio materials and also of the partial transcript of these materials, there is currently, in the opinion of the Common Court, insufficient facts and circumstances from which serious objections against Joran van der Sloot for the acts he is being accused of.

The Common Court has as a starting point that given the time that has passed and the fact that Joran van der Sloot has already been detained a few times, the question is if serious objections can be said to be the basis to actually place a person under preventive detention again, and the answer is not easily answered in a positive manner.

Although Joran van der Sloot in various conversations with Patrick van der Eem made extensive and detailed declarations in what regards to what happened on the night of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, the Common Court considered various arguments to not take serious objections solely on the basis of these declarations.

In so doing, the Common Court considered that Joran van der Sloot gave different contradictory declarations once again, which has resulted in various times that the declarations cannot be confirmed by objective facts.

Currently, the parts of the recorded conversations that contain new elements, are not confirmed by objective facts. Considering as well the possible presence of a serious personality problem in the suspect, in combination with the fact that he spoke of things – as he himself said – that do not fit with the truth, The Common Court has sufficient reason to doubt the incriminating character of the declarations.

There is no other legal option open to the Public Ministry to appeal the Common Court’s decision. The decision has as a consequence that the Public Ministry cannot detain Joran van der Sloot at this time. The investigation of the Holloway case continues, and Joran van der Sloot remains a suspect.

After concluding the investigation, the Public Ministry will take a decision as to the prosecution of Joran van der Sloot.

[translated by Getagrip]

No custody for Van der Sloot
Amigoe.com
02/15/2008

ORANJESTAD – After the Public Prosecutor appealed the decision of the examining magistrate not to detain Joran van der Sloot, the Common Court of Justice of the Neth.Antilles and Aruba announced yesterday evening that Joran van der Sloot will not be arrested again in the Holloway-case.

After having examined the possible slanderous image- and sound recording in secret by the editorial office of the Dutch crime journalist Peter R. de Vries, the Court says that there is not enough material to charge him. The Court can in any case not really answer the question whether based on that, the suspect must be taken into preventive custody. The decision also includes the situation that the suspect had given several inconsistent declarations, ‘whereby it also appeared more than once that these declarations could not be objectively confirmed’. What also played a part is the statement of Van der Sloot about having made up everything he had said in De Vries’ programme. The Court does not rule out the fact that the suspect has a ‘serious personality problem’.

“The Court questioned the verity of this statement, while we could have arrested him for a third time”, explained district attorney Dop Kruimel. Some of the things he said were partly consistent with justice’s own investigation. Others were not though, like the boat he mentioned; that has not been found yet.”

The OM has no statutory remedies left against the decision. The investigation in the Holloway-case will continue with 25 detectives working on it and Van der Sloot remains the suspect. The OM will decide on further prosecution of Van der Sloot after they are done with the investigation.

According to his lawyer Bert De Rooij, “Joran van der Sloot is not well off. He is in hiding and is constantly being threatened. Whether that is in the Netherlands or in Aruba, is not known. The lawyer said that he is not hiding for the police, but for the people’s tribunal. He has serious reasons to believe that he won’t make it across the street if we let him go free.”

Crime journalist Peter R. de Vries is of the opinion that by not arresting Joran van der Sloot, he is being rewarded for undermining the police investigation. He also does not understand that the Court does not want to arrest him because the Court is under the impression that Joran is a consistent liar. “The fact that a person constantly lies in a case of life and death, is precisely a motive to keep him/her locked behind bars.”

INFORMANT

The police have not told the Aruban authorities that Patrick van der Eem had come forward with the indication that Joran van der Sloot would perhaps talk to him about the Holloway-case. That’s what Justice-minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin told the Lower House on Thursday. Van der Eem, who was used by Peter R. de Vries as informant, reported to the Gelderland-Midden police last fall. The police didn’t work with him, because he made a condition that was against the rules. In connection with the privacy of Van der Eem and the sensitivity of the information, Hirsch Ballin didn’t go into this condition. The police also did not inform the Public Prosecutor. The minister indicated that it is part of the existing work arrangements. Besides, the OM would have most probably not accepted the man’s conditions, said the minister.

Column Peter R. DeVries: NO REARREST FOR JORAN: HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT TO HER RELATIVES.....?

Joran van der Sloot will not be rearrested for his role in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, according to a decision handed down by the Court on Aruba last night. This is not altogether surprising, considering an earlier pronouncement by the examining judge that the case is now technically ‘on appeal’, but it is difficult to explain. The main problem is that Dutch law does not provide for detention on remand for disposing of a body. It is indeed an offence which carries a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment, but one can’t be kept in custody pending such a sentence.

Continue reading...

Common Court rejects Joran’s detention
DIARIO Aruba
02/15/2008

ORANJESTAD (AAN): Last Thursday night, attorney Joe Tacopina revealed in New York that he received confirmation that the decision taken by the Common Court of Justice of Aruba and Antilles that they rejected the Public Ministry’s appeal for permission to re-detain Joran van der Sloot.

The Public Ministry re-opened the investigation on the disappearance of Natalee Holloway due to new details that were secretly recorded of Joran van der Sloot, where he admitted on videotape that Natalee died in his arms.

However, apparently the three judges who reviewed the appeal decided that there was nothing ‘new’ that has been brought forward in the recent revelations and in so doing, rejected the appeal.

[translated by Getagrip]

Court decides later on the arrest of Joran
Amigoe.com
02/12/2008

The Courthouse in Willemstad on Curacao, where the Court of Justice is residing.

ORANJESTAD – The Public Prosecutor (OM) announced yesterday that the Common Court of Justice of the Neth.Antilles and Aruba won’t decide on a possible arrest of Joran van der Sloot tomorrow, because it was decided that the Dutch lawyer of Van der Sloot gets till Wednesday to give his vision on the case.

The examining magistrate decided two weeks ago that the confessions of Van der Sloot that were secretly recorded by Peter R. de Vries, are not enough for arresting him in the Netherlands. The OM that attaches much importance to the statements of the suspect, lodged an objection to the decision. Expectations were that the objection would be honoured or not after last weekend. The OM has till Friday afternoon to submit all relevant information on the suspect. One day before that, on Thursday, Van der Sloot was voluntarily interrogated by detectives of the Aruban police and of the Corps National Police services (KLPD) in Rotterdam, as a result of the recordings. With that interrogation and with supplemental investigation, the OM wanted to gather sufficient evidence to arrest the suspect a third time due to his participation in the Holloway-case. After earlier arrests of the suspect, the examining magistrate is now making very high demands in order to approve the custody.

The minister of Justice, Rudy Croes has declared Joran van der Sloot, who is suspected of having murdered Natalee Holloway, persona non grata. Other than for judicial investigation, Joran van der Sloot is no longer welcome on the island.

The ministry of Justice also proposes this vote of censure in the light of a package of measures to tackle criminality problems among Aruban and Antillean young persons in the Netherlands that is agreed upon in the Dutch cabinet. The Dutch Justice-minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin is preparing a law that makes it possible to send them back to Aruba or the Antilles if necessary. “Let Joran be the first example of a Dutchman that is not wanted in Aruba”, said the minister, who also knows that judicially, it’s going to be difficult to really deny him admission to the country. “I simply do not want him here.”

Court of Justice has to hear Joran’s lawyers
DIARIO Aruba
02/12/2008

ORANJESTAD (AAN) — The last release that Aruban criminal authorities, the Public Ministry, has released and that came to light yesterday, gave more reason to start thinking whether criminal authorities really know how the justice system works in Aruba.

Last week they told the press that they expect the judge’s decision to see if Joran will be re-detained on the basis of the interrogations that took place in Holland. They did not explain that the process will proceed on the basis of rules for a case that has gone into appeal and in which Joran van der Sloot’s attorney’s must be heard, that according to experts to say that he was under the influence of drugs when he made his statements. How can a person under the influence of drugs be heard, authorities demonstrated last year in the case of an addict in Aruba.

When the judge handed down the verdict, one of the parties involved appealed the decision. This means that they asked the Court of Justice to hear the case, which has to be treated as any other case. There are accusations and there is a defense.

The press release by criminal authorities created the impression that when the interrogation of van der Sloot ended in Holland, the judge was to decide if he’s to be re-detained. It seemed that the judge just had to allow Joran van der Sloot to be detained.

In reality, a case in appeal has to be tried again by the Court of Justice and not only with one judge. Criminal authorities present their accusations and the reason for which they believe that the decision of the judge of first instance has to be revoked. The accused has the right to the same defense that he had a right to after the judge’s decision for him to appeal the decision.

The information from the Public Ministry took away the legal path from view and created a different impression until yesterday, when criminal authorities again issued a press release to clear up one and another thing and put into perspective the manner in which the justice system functions.

Yesterday, criminal authorities – the Public Ministry – announced that contrary to other information, it could not be expected that yesterday, Monday February 11, the court would hand down a decision in its favour in the case that they appealed against the judge commissioner’s decision to refuse the detention of Joran van der Sloot.

The court of justice said that they will take a decision after February 13, since the attorney of Joran van der Sloot has until February 13, 2008 to give his point of view in the case that has been appealed. The Public Ministry again concluded in its press release that until the court has decided, it could not give any comment.

The question remains if the functioning of the justice system is not known by Aruban criminal authorities, who had problems in proving their accusations against Joran van der Sloot, who they detained on the basis of ‘new information’, who could not prove what Joran, who kept his mouth shut, did.

According to experts, it can be expected that Joran van der Sloot’s attorneys will say the same thing that Joran himself has said, that he was under the influence of drugs when he made the statements to de Vries. What does this mean? Could he be held responsible for his words that he spoke under the influence of drugs?

[translated by Getagrip]

Column Peter R. DeVries: What's Joran's parents' case?

A few weeks ago, the parents of Joran van der Sloot appeared with me in the Dutch talk show Pauw & Witteman. They asserted that Joran was a boy with a good upbringing, who always treated girls with respect. They also stated that if they had any indication that Joran was indeed involved in the disappearance of Natalee, they would have gone to the police immediately.

Continue reading...

Justice interrogates Joran
Amigoe.com
02/09/2008

While he was secretly being recorded in conversation with ‘informant’ Patrick van der Eem, he was under the influence of marihuana, said Joran van der Sloot in the interrogation with Justice.

ORANJESTAD -- Joran van der Sloot declared that the conversations in Patrick van der Eem’s car, were carried on under influence of marihuana. He said this at a police station in Rotterdam, where he was voluntarily interrogated yesterday morning.

Detectives of the Aruban police and of the Corps national police service (KLPD) and his Dutch lawyer were present at the interrogation that lasted about two hours, said the Public Prosecutor (OM).

Other than that, Van der Sloot stuck to all his prior declarations in the investigation. He denies having anything to do with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, said the OM. He could leave after the interrogation. The examining magistrate decided on February 5 that Joran van der Sloot is not to be detained. The OM has appealed that decision and expects a verdict from the Common Court of Justice.

The OM has called on the media in a press release not to launch a witch hunt around the Holloway-case and to abstain from investigations of their own. “The interest for this case seems to degenerate into a witch hunt, whereby several people are being menaced in an intimidated manner”, is the opinion of justice. To the OM, these practices are ‘unacceptable’. People are being marked as suspects without any confirmation and menaced as such with all its consequences. Besides, other than causing big unrest, journalistic investigations harm the criminal investigation, said justice. “Without wanting to harm the value of free press coverage, justice would like the media to be reserved, exactly for the above reasons.”

The OM mentioned as an example the media hunt on an accomplice that Van der Sloot mentioned. After this person (Daury Rodriguez) had declared that he has nothing to do with the case, all eyes focused on a next person (Lorenzo van Rijn).

“The cameras were all around his house”, informed district attorney Dop Kruimel. “He had to take on a lawyer for the contact with us.”

If necessary, the OM will also protect the suspect Joran van der Sloot. The OM is also of the opinion that yesterday’s words of Justice-minister Rudy Croes were premature. Croes wants to declare Joran van der Sloot persona non grate.

“The boy is not convicted yet; besides, there are a whole lot of judicial hurdles ahead, before he can be refused admission to Aruba. He is legally admitted anyway”, was the reaction of the OM.

Many institutions, official bodies, lawyers, journalists, and psychologists are asking themselves how to handle the outpouring of Joran van der Sloot before the hidden camera. According to law psychologist Albert Wagenaar, there is not even a confession in the revealing reportage. There is no solving of the case and it is no confession of a criminal act, ’because none is indicated’, said the psychologist.

The ombudsman of NOS, Tom van Bussel is of the opinion that the NOS should have been more reserved in reporting Peter R. de Vries’ claim that he had solved the Holloway disappearance-case. After the coverage of SBS6 on Sunday evening it appeared that De Vries’ promise is not fulfilled. “What we know now is that Joran is a confused guy. Like a source of the OM phrased it: ‘We thought that we would get a solution, but what we got was another of the so-many stories”, states the ombudsman on his NOS-website.

At this moment, the Dutch Council for Journalism doesn’t want to say whether certain publications in the Joran van der Sloot-case have crossed the borders of careful journalism.

Nevertheless, top executive of the Dutch OM, Harm Brouwer praises De Vries for his coverage. The chairman of the college of procurator-general said in an interview in Trouw last Friday that De Vries has delivered good journalistic work. “The criticism from media circles on De Vries is pretty hypocritical”, said Brouwer. “What he did is a logical continuation on a trend that is going on for years. He is in many respects a journalistic professional.”

Brouwer wants a social debate on citizens that are actively involved in tracing activities. That is just a detail. The point is, where private investigation must start and where it must stop.”

BALKENENDE

Premier Jan Peter Balkenende assumes that, during his Aruba-visit this Friday, the Holloway-case will come up for discussion in his conversation with Premier Nelson Oduber. He said in the TV-programme EenVandaag that this is the case of the judicial authorities and that he must not get involved. He pointed out the complexity of the case. Van der Sloot’s statements are indeed arguable; Daury said that he was not on Aruba when the affaire took place. Balkenende will be on Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles for five days, starting on Sunday.

‘Joran persona non grata’
Amigoe.com
02/08/2008

Justice-minister Rudy Croes does no longer want Joran van der Sloot on the island, because he has caused and is still causing a lot of damage to the image of Aruba.

ORANJESTAD – The minister of Justice, Rudy Croes has declared Joran van der Sloot, who is suspected of having murdered Natalee Holloway, persona non grata. Other than for judicial investigation, Joran van der Sloot is no longer welcome on the island.

The ministry of Justice also proposes this vote of censure in the light of a package of measures to tackle the criminality problems among Aruban and Antillean young persons in the Netherlands that is agreed on in the Dutch cabinet. The Dutch Justice-minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin is preparing a law that makes it possible to send them back to Aruba or the Antilles if necessary. “Let Joran be the first example of a Dutchman that is not wanted in Aruba”, said the minister, who also knows that judicially, it’s going to be difficult to really deny him admission to the country. “I simply do not want him here.”

Also Joran’s father, lawyer Paul van der Sloot seems to fall into disfavour with the Justice-minister. The justice-department does not rule out the fact that the lawyer has smuggled in a cellular phone for his son, when he was in prison. Joran mentioned that when the Dutch crime journalist Peter R. de Vries was secretly recording him. Justice is now investigating whether Van der Sloot must be dismissed as member of the special committee on the prison system. The same applies to his participation in the LAR-committee. Legislation Administration and Judicial Affairs is checking whether he can still be a lawyer. The president of the Bar, Ronald Wix indicated that there no reason for that yet. “If it turns out that what Joran said is true, we will take disciplinary measures. He indicated in a letter to the Dutch programme Pauw & Witteman that what Joran said it is not true.”

All eyes are now focused on the declaration that Joran van der Sloot wants to give to the police. According to his lawyers’ firm in the Netherlands, he hadn’t done that yet yesterday. On no account does the Public Prosecutor (OM) want to say where, when, or if there’s going to be an encounter. The ministry of Justice said that two detectives from Aruba had gone to the Netherlands for this. Also chief prosecutor Hans Mos is in the Netherlands, but supposedly on vacation.

Because the suspect has voluntarily committed to give a statement, the OM must passively wait a see whether Van der Sloot will come to the police station. Arresting him is impossible, as long as the examining magistrate in Oranjestad does not give permission for this. The OM had till this afternoon to submit the court of Justice with all relevant information and objections regarding the appeal against the decision that the examining magistrate made last week, not to arrest Joran. The court will decide on this next week.

Patrick van der Eem not welcome in the US due to his drugs past.

PATRICK

The interest for the Holloway-case remains the same in the United States. Peter R. de Vries, who left for the United States last Wednesday to appear in among others the Larry King show and Good Morning America, receives most of the attention. One of the first things that Larry King wanted to know from De Vries was whether he has questioned the reliability of informant Patrick van der Eem. He has a criminal record and he has drugged Joran van der Sloot to encourage him to confess, said King. “Smoking marihuana is Joran’s daily routine anyway”, answered De Vries, who didn’t think Van der Eem’s past is important.

But Justice in the US thought differently and arrested Van der Eem immediately after arrival at JFK-airport in New York. They put him on the very next plane to the Netherlands. Because of his criminal record, Van der Eem was not allowed to enter the US. The idea was that together with De Vries, he would also go on tour to all the big American TV-stations.

'Natalee was epileptic'

Also the family Holloway is receiving a lot of attention again from the media in the US. Natalee’s mother Beth Twitty is often seen in the company of Peter R. de Vries.

Also Natalee’s stepfather Jug Twitty got to speak. According to him, the police and justice in Aruba had covered up the true fact of Natalee’s disappearance. Joran’s declaration that Natalee had suddenly started to shake on the beach is according to him the indication that the authorities knew in 2005 already what had happened. “I now understand why, two weeks after her disappearance, the police asked us if Natalee was suffering of epileptic attacks”, he told the journalists. “Twitty had already mentioned on TV last year that Aruban detectives have asked him about Natalee’s epileptic or allergic reactions. It is not inconceivable that during the ‘spy confessions’, Joran has used Twitty’s statements to trace a wrong track.”

O.M. Press Release

Source: GretaWire

press release

Postbus 1163, Oranjestad, Aruba ,

Havenstraat 2

Oranjestad, Aruba
To all media
From the Public Prosecutor’s Office
Date February 8, 2008
Pages 1

J.v.d.S. interrogated at Police Station in Rotterdam

This morning, between 10:00 – 12:30 hours (Netherlands time) the police interrogated J.v.d.S. at a police station in Rotterdam. J.v.d.S. was interrogated by police officers of the Aruban Police Department and the Netherlands National Police Department. His lawyer was present during the interrogation, which lasted about two hours.

During the interrogation J.v.d.S. indicated that during the conversations he had in the car he was under the influence of marihuana. Furthermore, he sticks to his statements made earlier during the investigation. He denies to have anything to do with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.

The decision of the Court of Appeal of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba is crucial to the possibility of further interrogations of J.v.d.S.

As already stated on February 5, 2008, the Public Prosecutor’s Office lodged an appeal against the decision of the investigating judge to deny the re-detention of J.v.d.S.. The decision of the Court of Appeal is not expected until after the weekend.

Under the direction of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Aruban Police Department is still investigating this case. In the interest of the investigation, the Public Prosecutor’s Office appeals to the press to please refrain from a witch-hunt or private investigations or fishing expeditions (all this in the broadest sense of the word),

The Public Prosecutor’s Office doesn’t fail to notice that the investigation into the disappearance of Natalee Holloway draws a lot of interest from media and general public. However, this interest seems to be turning into a witch-hunt in which several persons are being harassed.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office regards this as not acceptable. In the first place, without any confirmation persons are being labeled as a suspect, and harassed as such. In the second place, journalistic investigations and the subsequent reporting thereof, at a time the investigative team is still busy trying to get an answer to many questions, can seriously harm the criminal investigation. Not only does it cause a lot of unrest, or may generate misinformation, it may also harm the outcome of the investigation itself, e.g. when witnesses questioned by the judge at trial can’t be sure if they witnessed something themselves or they know a fact from the media.

Without questioning the value of freedom of the press, it would be desirable if the press would act a little distantly for aforementioned reasons.

For any further information, you can call:

Chief Prosecutor Mos goes on vacation!
DIARIO Aruba
02/08/2008

ORANJESTAD(AAN)— When in the halls of government sitting against the principle of separation of powers, at no time did chief prosecutor mr. Hans Mos say he was going on vacation and that he is leaving the case in the hands of another person.

Now it turns out that he went to Holland on vacation, at the moment when the case of Joran, which he has been dealing with, is taking place in Holland. More questions arise in what regards criminal authorities. It was not long ago that Mos himself admitted to DIARIO that when at a quieter time Jorg was in Holland, it was difficult for legal authorities to function if two top functionaries are missing at work.

Now that Dutch authorities have to deal with the Natalee case along with Aruban authorities […] it turns out that Mos is on vacation in Holland, where Joran, with baseless accusations from legal authorities, was able to maintain his freedom, is speaking with Dutch authorities!

The people have the right to know what is happening in Aruba.

Now that the case of Joran has garnered global attention and international journalists show an interest to question Aruban criminal authorities, chief prosecutor Mos has gone on vacation.

DIARIO, the day before yesterday, tried to get in contact with mr. Hans Mos, who when Nico Jorg was in Holland at a quieter time, showed that it was difficult for criminal authorities to be able to function with Teresa Croes as A.O. and another out of town. DIARIO was informed that mr. Hans Mos went to Holland. He did not say to DIARIO that it was on vacation that he was supposedly going.

Yesterday, DIARIO was informed that quite some time ago, Mos decided to take his vacation and decided that he was going to spend them now in Holland, where coincidentally Joran van der Sloot was interrogated by Dutch authorities, who have to pass on this information to Aruban authorities.

Mos himself explained to Aruba how Aruban criminal authorities tried to convince the judge to re-detain Joran in Holland by appealing the judge’s verdict. For this, the information that they have to receive from Holland is of great importance. How is it that now Mos went on vacation to the same country where Joran was interrogated, is a question that comes up.

The case that is being appealed in front of a judge was lost by criminal authorities given that the judge cannot sentence Joran, because criminal authorities cannot present any proof about what happened to Natalee that day and that Natalee died.

Criminal authorities must’ve known that the accusations that they presented without concrete proof, never would have allowed the judge to condemn Joran because criminal authorities could not give any proof, like they themselves admitted. Therefore these are baseless accusations by criminal authorities that made it possible for Joran van der Sloot to regain his freedom after he was detained with what criminal authorities call ‘essential proof’.

[translator's note: article goes on a political tangent below]

How could Mos, at a time like this, go on vacation when Joran was interrogated; it becomes more questionable if one takes into account the amount of work that criminal authorities have to deal with in the coming week with the new case of the Fondo Desaroyo. It has been some time that two very important cases, in which accusations that criminal authorities are [corrupt?] play an important role, one of two criminal authorities chiefs ‘went on vacation’?

Even though prosecutor van der Schaft will represent in the case of Fondo Nobo, which was formulated with Teresa Croes at the helm, on the basis of a complaint by Rudy Croes and Nel Oduber, it is known that van der Schaft has to deal with the inheritance and strategy of Big Fish that van der Schaft inherited and that also is full of question as to what proof will be presented.

In this case there are links like Mos, who is in Holland from where the judge who sits on the Fondo Nobo case has to come, that are important and the question arises what necessity there is for Teresa Croes, even though she is A.O., to come guide the Fondo Nobo case that came to light under her direction and got investigated on the basis of false reports, amongst other things.

[...]

[translated by Getagrip]

According to Jug Twitty, there was a justice cover-up in the disappearance
DIARIO Aruba
02/08/2008

ORANJESTAD(AAN): The stepfather of Natalee Holloway, Jug Twitty, said recently that Aruban police, a few days after the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, knew what happened in the case but that they covered it up.

Twitty said this after he saw the recording of the Peter R. de Vries show. Natalee’s stepfather, who some time ago is divorced from Beth, said to Fox News that two weeks after the disappearance of Natalee, he was asked various strange question from Aruban police agents.

They asked his things like: “did she suffer from epilepsy, or did she have any allergies?” “I was angry about these questions”.

“But now I am thinking, they knew at the time what had happened.” He spoke of a so-called cover-up.

[translated by Getagrip]

Mother Van der Sloot: Joran has no half brother
Amigoe.com
02/07/2008

Family Van der Sloot with left, Anita van der Sloot. Joran has two younger brothers.

ORANJESTAD – The mother of Joran van der Sloot, Anita, wants to clear up the rumours that Joran has a half brother; he does not; this half brother does not exist. She told the Amigoe this yesterday.

Amigoe reported yesterday that the Dutch current affairs column and the local radio transmitter Cool FM assumed that a certain Lorenzo van R. was the person that helped murder-suspect Joran dispose of Natalee Holloway’s body with a boat. Daury Rodriguez’s name was mentioned earlier as the ‘boatman’, but Rodriguez denied this. Joran van der Sloot said in the talked-about footage of Peter R. de Vries that he was helped by ‘Daury’.

Also in the early stages of the investigation, family Van der Sloot has rebutted this rumour. “Justice has investigated it at that time and could ascertain that nothing tallies. But the media is digging into it again. How are Joran’s brothers going to understand this now? They asked me if what is in the Amigoe is true; that they have a half brother. This is on top of everything that has already happened.”

Also Lorenzo’s family had already told a newspaper in the past that this story about half brother is not true. The two families had contact with each other right after family Van der Sloot moved to Aruba in 1990. “They had an auto-repair shop and we have taken our car to them a few times. Lorenzo was five or six years old at that time and Joran two-and-a-half.”

‘Joran-shows’

The Netherlands as well as the United States are keeping a close track of all the latest developments in the Holloway-case. The Netherlands that was the first to broadcast Peter R. de Vries’ footage last Sunday, noted a viewing record of seven million people. ABC has broadcast the footage on Monday and at least 12 million Americans watched it, which is 11 percent of the TV-viewers at that moment.

De Vries has meanwhile left for the US to appear in several prominent talk shows. Aruban televiewers could watch the footage on ABC via cable for the first time on Monday. They have already seen and heard fragments via local radio- and TV-transmitters and on internet earlier.

Patrick van der Eem, the man that encouraged a confession from Joran van der Sloot on a hidden camera, seems to become ‘the big hero’ in the Netherlands and in the US, confirmed the office of Peter R. de Vries. The telephone hasn’t stopped ringing and several bouquets were delivered ‘out of appreciation’.

Joran and OM talk tomorrow in the Netherlands
Amigoe.com
02/06/2008

ORANJESTAD – The conversation between Joran van der Sloot and the Public Prosecutor (OM) will most probably take place in the Netherlands tomorrow, said Joran’s lawyer Ariean de Bie. Van der Sloot indicated last Monday that he is willing to be interrogated again by the police.

Other sources indicated that justice has also contacted the murder suspect of Natalee Holloway today. It is possible that chief prosecutor Hans Mos is also going to be present. He left for the Netherlands yesterday, supposedly for holidays, said the OM.

Journalists have meanwhile started a chase on the ‘real Daury’. According to crime journalist Peter R. de Vries, who gave the Holloway-case a new impulse last week with an undercover operation, the presented Daury Rodriguez is not the Daury that Joran meant. He beeped away the last name of Daury in the footage of his investigation. Daury Rodriguez denied having been the person that helped Joran van der Sloot dispose of Natalee Holloway’s body. He was in the Netherlands when this happened in Aruba.

According to the local radio station Cool FM and a journalist of the Dutch current affairs column Network, a half brother of Joran, a Lorenzo van R., does fit the profile. He does have a boat and his name has already appeared earlier in the Holloway-file. Peter R. de Vries has confirmed having heard of Lorenzo van R.’s name, but that he didn’t want to use him for his programme. The Dutch programme Nova and other media have also mentioned other names, especially names of boys that often hang about the ‘surfing circuit’ near the Fisherman’s Hut next to the Marriott.

Peter R. de Vries and Patrick van der Eem, the man that elicited a confession from Joran on hidden cameras, are thinking more of the ‘poker circuit’. Van der Eem says that Joran is addicted to playing poker. Like former chief of police Gerold Dompig already said in the past, Joran is a meritorious poker player and won quite a bit of money with poker tournaments. The just 20-year old Joran sometimes gambled away 4000 euro with a night out playing poker. According to Van der Eem, Joran continued to bombard him with email and sms until the day of the disclosure.

After he had met Joran in a poker game in the casino, Van der Eem had approached the Dutch police last year with the suggestion to unmask him. Justice questions the fact that he had given himself up. Due to the fact that there is no law for special powers to investigate (BOB), deploy a civil informant in Aruba is unfortunately impossible, but this is different in the Netherlands. Using police-informants is possible, but with ‘a lot of trouble’. “But that is going to change”, said an insider in the OM. “A BOB law is in the make and will probably be presented soon.”

PREMIER

For prime Minister Nelson Oduber, the Holloway-case cannot be over with fast enough. He said in Nova that Aruba has already lost tens of millions American dollars in damages, due to the Natalee Holloway case.

Chair Rob Smith of tourist organization Ahata is of the opinion that it won’t get to that this time. “This time, the effects of the case will be significantly less than a few years ago. I think that the weak American economy is a more important factor for the tourists to stay away. As destination for short vacations, Aruba remains popular, but I worry more for the summer, when the American middle class traditionally visit the island.”

It appeared from a tourist inquiry that the Natalee Holloway-case was also not the most important factor for the tourism to drop in 2005. The most important reasons were the oil prices, the economic recession, expensive airline tickets, fewer hotel rooms due to renovations (some hotels were even close), and hurricanes. The effect of the Holloway-case was already to a smaller extent at that time. The tourist branch is this year waiting to see what the collapsing of the housing market in the US will mean for the tourism here and thus the American economy.

“All and all in 2005, the Holloway-case has cost us a maximum of 6 points on the scale that we maintain for tourism proceeds”, explains Smith. “Each point less costs the economy an estimate of 25 million guilders. But compared with the region, we nevertheless did well in 2005.”

Kalpoe brothers can continue with their lawsuit against Dr. Phil
Amigoe.com
02/06/2008

ORANJESTAD/LOS ANGELES – The American media reported that a judge in Los Angeles had decided that the Surinam brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe that in 2005 were interrogated after the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba, can continue with their lawsuit against the famous American TV-psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw. McGraw and the network CBS Television wanted to stop the lawsuit.

The Kalpoe brothers that were friends of Joran van der Sloot, accuse McGraw of slander. In one of his programmes, McGraw played the recording of a conversation between Deepak and a private detective. With this, McGraw has created the impression that the brothers were criminally involved with the disappearance of Natalee.

There’s also a missing American woman in St. Maarten
DIARIO Aruba
02/07/2008

ORANJESTAD(AAN): Currently, once again the case of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway is getting a lot of attention, but in the Dutch part of St. Maarten there’s also a case of an American woman who has disappeared.

It has to do with Leta Cordes, 49 years of age, who was visiting the island from Mission Viejo, California. Her husband said that he saw his wife for the last time on January 12, when they were going to go out of keiro [?]

That night, the couple went to eat out and afterwards, Leta said to her husband that she was going to the casino for a little while. The woman went with 200 dollars in her bag, walking out of the vacation house close to Dawn Beach, in the direction of the casino that just opened at the Westin Resort.

Police did not see the woman on surveillance video at the entrance of the casino, and since that day the St. Maarten police department is conducting a big search operation along with the family and friends of the missing person.

The American woman knows the island pretty well, given that her and her husband have been visiting the island for a few years. After almost a month, the disappearance of Leta Cordes now little by little is getting attention in America.

[translated by Getagrip]

Kalpoe brothers case against Dr. Phil allowed to go forward by judge
DIARIO Aruba
02/07/2008

ORANJESTAD(AAN): An American judge has dictated that he will permit the case of defamation of the Kalpoe brothers against CBS and “Dr. Phil” McGraw to continue. William Cremer, the principal attorney for the Kalpoe brothers in this case, was very happy with the decision of the Superior Court judge, Edward A. Ferns.

“I am going to finish Dr.Phil”, said Cremer outside the court building. The Kalpoe brothers who were accused of having something to do with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, have always denied this.

In December 2006 they brought a case, after according to the, the Dr. Phil show changed part of a hidden recording that a private detective made of Deepak Kalpoe, to create the impression that Deepak had committed criminal acts against Natalee Holloway.

The brothers also said that the television show suggested that they helped killed the young American and disposed of her body.

Their case centers on that they accuse the Dr. Phil Show and CBS of defamation, invasion of privacy, fraud and civil conspiracy.

Attorney Cremer said that the recent hidden recording in a car between Joran van der Sloot and Patrick van Eem, helps his clients in the defamation case.

Attorneys for CBS and McGraw in their request to deny the case going forward, said to the judge that the attorney for the Kalpoes did not meet the imposed deadline to hand over all documents related to the criminal investigation against them.

However, the judge gave attorney Cremer 5 more days to meet the deadline. In June, another judge denied the request for a case of responsibility for the death of Natalee against the Kalpoe brothers, brought forward by Natalee’s parents. According to the judge, the Superior Court of Los Angeles does not have jurisdiction over that case.

[translated by Getagrip]

Today Joran will give a statement to the Public Minister
DIARIO Aruba
02/07/2008

ORANJESTAD(AAN): Joran van der Sloot will give a declaration to the Public Ministry and this will take place in Holland.

This is according to his lawyer Arien de Brie, at ANP. Recently, Joran’s Dutch attorney, Bert de Rooij, said that Joran was willing to give a statement.

Prime Minister Oduber said on the Dutch program Nova that Aruba, according to calculations, has suffered damages of a few millions of dollars from the Holloway case.

He said that just now that the economy has started to improve, once again this case is getting much negative attention.

[translated by Getagrip]

Patrick van der Eem getting hero status in Holland
DIARIO Aruba
02/06/2008

ORANJESTAD(AAN): On Monday the person who, along with Peter R. de Vries, was able to secretly record Joran van der Sloot, Patrick van der Eem, was congratulated all the way as he walked on the street in Almelo, where he lives.

This happened after 7 million people saw de Vries’ program on which it was shown how Patrick was able to get Joran to tell what happened the night of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. At the company of the businessman, who sells hydraulic slangnan [?], the telephone was ringing incessantly.

The office received a few flower bouquets as well. Patrick was also called by Joran himself. “He was in tears”.

“Joran was broken, but I have no pity towards him”, according to van der Eem. In an interview van der Eem said that Joran established a friendship with him because he believe that van der Eem was a big drug dealer, like van der Eem himself led Joran to believe. According to Patrick, Joran not only admitted that Natalee died in his arms, but also that he wished to enter into the drug dealing world.

“He wanted to participate in the plantations and make a lot of money”. “I was disgusted with him and I was trying to do something with him”, according to Patrick. Patrick also said that at a certain point he gambled more than 20 thousand Euros to impress Joran.

[translated by Getagrip]

DIARIO Column: Aruban community cannot accept that Joran continues to lie
DIARIO Aruba
02/06/2008

ORANJESTAD (AAN) –After the press conference by the Public Ministry was broadcast live on television, a few calls came into to our offices where the public opinion also had its verdict related to the situation in which Joran van der Sloot has put and continued to put our country.

One remark that was made about the Public Ministry, is about the response that mr. Mos gave a journalist about his question of whether Joran’s parents were informed as to what was going to happen to the youngster. Public opinion finds it very strange that seeing that Joran is 20 years old, therefore of age, there is no need for the O.M. to put his parents up to date of what’s going to happen.

Three years ago the Justice Officer who was in charge of the case discussed the case a few times with Joran’s father, which public opinion finds isn't right. At that time the young man was able to be set free.

But the Public Ministry has another function and it is not to inform the accused or his family of what is going to happen to him and has to remain distant from the accused because at the moment it is too close to the accused and gives information as to what is going to happen, this institution is no longer independent!

The community now again has questions if it is the case that Joran is going to be set free, since he will know all the steps that the Public Ministry will take, given that they are ‘singing’ this into the ears of the father, who is also a jurist.

Various people find that Joran cannot continue to say that he is lying. In all sorts of way on television he is saying “I lied”, but the time has come where it is no longer acceptable to the community of Aruba that Joran continues to lie, because he has done much harm to the economy of our country.

According to public opinion, the community should demand from Joran van der Sloot’s family damages and prejudice because he has set our economy back, by continuing to lie.

A person cannot remain lied to every time he says something and this time the community has to react. These are the thoughts of different people who called yesterday afternoon at our offices when they saw the press conference on television.

Finally, it could be observed that many viewers were very disappointed and they felt from the beginning that the case was not dealt with adequately and that the Public Ministry did not remain neutral and reiterated that the O.M. should not have been in contact with the parents, especially the father of Joran van der Sloot.

[translated by Getagrip]

In Holland, pressure on Joran is great
DIARIO Aruba
02/06/2008

ORANJESTAD(AAN): The pressure on Joran van der Sloot in Holland to turn himself in is great. In Holland, people want him to turn himself in and everyone believes that he is involved in the case and is guilty of the death and disappearance of the body of Natalee Holloway.

Nobody believes that he made these statements as a game [joke] and they believe that he spoke the truth.

How is it possible that a person hangs himself knowing that he is placing himself in a problematic situation and he is being looked out as a suspect in the case of Natalee Holloway.

This same week, the Public Ministry in Aruba by way of a 'rechtshulpverzoek' (legal advice request) let the KLPD in Holland hold a huiszoeking (search) in Joran’s Arnhem home as well as the grandmother’s house in Drachten where he went to hide.

As DIARIO reported Tuesday, a group of people in Holland who are unhappy with Joran’s behaviour went to his house in Arnhem and also at his grandmother’s house in Drachten to look for him.

This was not with very good intentions and in Drachten things got a bit out of hand where police assistance was requested. At the grandmother’s house, they put surveillance by a private security firm. There were death threats against Joran.

Over the weekend, the Public Ministry in Aruba advised Joran’s parents to look for another place to stay and to not remain in their Montaña house in Noord. This advice also went towards Joran because the Public Ministry believed that it was certain that after the recording where Joran made his declaration people could react emotionally.

Joran’s attorney in Holland, mr. Bert de Rooij, said that his client is willing to give a new declaration to authorities in Holland. In Holland, Joran is already crucified and even authorities no longer believe in him because it is certain that he will talk himself out of any culpability. Joran is a pathological liar, but now he has closed the web around him and no longer has an escape.

The Public Ministry along with the rest of the world also believes that Joran’s statements to Patrick van der Eem are the truth.

The manner in which he gave certain details fit with the last pieces that police needed. It is surely because according to police analysis of the interrogations there is a period of 40 to 50 minutes that are unaccounted for and this fits with the time that he used to go call a person and get to sea to throw Natalee’s body at sea. Whether this was done with Daury Rodriguez or whether there was one or more people who helped him.

[translated by Getagrip]

Peter R. de Vries goes to America
DIARIO Aruba
02/06/2008

ORANJESTAD(AAN): Crime reporter Peter R. De Vries will travel to America today, where he will visit various talk shows to talk about his program on the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. This was decided by Peter and his team.

De Vries will visit the ABC show ‘Good Morning America’, ‘The Larry King Show’ and ‘Inside Edition’.

At first, the trip was in question because the different television channels wanted exclusivity agreements.

De Vries was going crazy over this and he considered canceling the trip. He decided Tuesday to travel to America.

[translated by Getagrip]

The important thing is that the judge asked to open the case of Joran
DIARIO Aruba
02/05/2008

ORANJESTAD(AAN): Monday, the Public Ministry held a press conference related to the latest developments in the case of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. Chief prosecutor Mos directed himself to the American press first, after which he turned to Dutch for the local and Dutch press.

Mos started by saying that it is not true that the investigation into this case has stopped, as various American programs have insinuated, including the Oprah Show.

According to Mos, the judicial aspect is closed, but the investigation continues because the O.M. wants to solve the case. Mos also said that it is regrettable that the judge denied the request to detain Joran for the 3rd time, but the O.M. will appeal the judge’s decision.

According to the chief prosecutor, they have two cases that are related to Joran in Holland, but still cannot give the results of these in order not to disturb the investigation. The press asked Mos if they got in touch with Daury, who according to Joran was his friend who helped dispose of Natalee’s body.

Mos explained that they are in the process of looking for this person. The press asked Mos how important this recording is to this case.

According to the chief prosecutor, the reality of television is not the reality of the court, because it is not certain how far the recording can go in convicting Joran, but the Public Ministry finds that the recording is very essential. Despite the fact that the judge denied the request to detain Joran, the judge was of the opinion that the recording was so important that the case has been re-opened.

Mos continued to say that a lot of investigation has to be conducted in order to bring this case to court. The press also asked Mos if they checked the public phone on which Joran said he called his friend to come.

The chief prosecutor said that that is also being investigated. There are new elements in the investigation of Joran that also have to be investigated in order to verify everything.

The press also asked Mos if it is true that the Public Ministry advised the van der Sloot family to hide out, to avoid possible threats. According to Mos, he spoke with the van der Sloot family, as a precautionary measure, for what could be a possible reaction that could come in their direction, after everyone saw the SBS6 program.

The press asked Mos if the recording could be used in Court and Mos said that the considers that this could be used, given that it was private individuals, like Peter de Vries, who made the recording while the O.M. had nothing to do with it.

The press asked Mos also if the van der Sloot family home and the house where Joran was living in Holland were going to be protected by authorities against threats. Mos said that if this was the case, he would not say so.

What was very important in this case, according to Mos, is that Joran said that they threw the girl at sea, without being certain if the girl was truly already dead. Legally, this means that Joran could be accused of murder and all variants related to this.

Aside from this, Joran chose not to call police or an ambulance. The press brought forth that the supposed public phone that Joran would have used is one that uses credit cards and Mos said that they are investigating this.

[translated by Getagrip]