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]

People surprised by the judge commissioner’s decision not to order Joran’s detention
DIARIO Aruba
02/05/2008

ORANJESTAD (AAN): It was a big ‘black eye’ that Aruba found this weekend after Joran in an ugly way revealed how he got rid of Natalee Holloway and after the judge commissioner decided that he will not [typo] deny the request to detain Joran once again! DIARIO begs the Public Ministry to appeal this decision! The moment has come for all ‘friends’ of Paulus to stop depending on this family!

A press release issued Monday morning by the Public Ministry, show that, related to the recordings that were made in secret for Peter R. de Vries and made available to the Public Ministry, the judge commissioner re-opened the preliminary judicial investigation against J.v.d.S. last Tuesday, January 29.

Peter R. De Vries showed a part of the recordings to the members of the Public Ministry on January 20, 2008. These recordings showed the moment when J. for the first time – as far as the Public Ministry is aware – told his story to another person.

The images showed at the same time the story of J. himself as to what happened on May 30, 2005 in relation to Natalee Holloway. The content of these images and certainly also the manner in which J. finally told his story (including his non-verbal communication) created the impression upon the Public Ministry that this version of events could be very close to the truth.

As to the question of de Vries if the Public Ministry could and would want to use its material, the Public Ministry said ‘yes’, conforming to its point of view from the end of last year that all new information will be investigated. The Public Ministry is taking the video and audio material very seriously. In such a situation, it was not an option to not take action and sit and wait for the broadcast of February 3, 2008. The Public Ministry, with their hands on the material, elected to actively and directly direct the investigation to this.

The Public Ministry was able to know later that there were more images available from this secret operation and that these would also be put at their disposal. Before taking drastic decisions in this case, the Public Ministry wanted to look at all images that de Vries says to dispose of. This happened on the 25 and 26 of January. These images were also put at the disposal of the Public Ministry. On Thursday, February 1, 2008, the Public Ministry got the last images produced from the de Vries operation.

Neither the Public Ministry nor the Police had any involvement in the recording operation, nor did they exert any sort of influence on them. Because of this, the Public Ministry is of the opinion that the materials obtained can be used in the investigation.

The Public Ministry observed that the suspect J.v.d.S. confirmed that the reconstruction of events that he himself gave, in large part corroborated by the facts and circumstances obtained in the investigation. Notwithstanding the fact that the Public Ministry places great value on the declarations made here by v.d.S., the Public Ministry is acting also with prudence and due care. It is important to be careful with confessions.

The fact that in the eyes of many, the disappearance of Natalee Holloway seems to have been solved with this confession on a crime program, it does not mean that the video and audio material that brings them to this conclusion is sufficient for a conviction by a criminal judge.

It is up to the Court to judge the value of this confession in the context of other results of the investigation. It is not up to the Public Ministry to give an answer to the question of a suspect’s guilt: this is up to the Court to make. There is a big difference between the reality of the Court and the reality of television.

This difference was demonstrated by the fact that the Public Ministry, on the basis of the investigative material at its disposal, asked the judge commissioner on February 1, 2008 to give an order of preventive detention against J.v.d.S. and the same night the judge commissioner denied this request.

The reason is that now the judge commissioner, after the previous detentions of the suspect, has set heavy demands in order to grant his detention. According to the judge commissioner, simply the contents of the statements by the suspect J.v.d.S. do not meet these demands.

This means that the Public Ministry cannot detain v.d.S. in Holland. The Public Ministry will appeal this decision. It remains now up to the Public Ministry and Police to investigate the version of facts given by the suspect J.v.d.S.

This investigation will not limit itself to Aruba. It will also have to investigate all the material from the de Vries investigation, as was brought forward in his show. It will also ask forensic experts, on the basis of facts, to give their opinion in relation to the physical condition of Natalee Holloway that night and in relation to what, according to J.v.d.S., happened on the beach. The investigation will take more time.

If the investigation gives such reason, the Public Ministry will release information to the public. In the meantime, it will not give more information

[translated by Getagrip]

Daury Rodriguez denies having anything to do with the Natalee Case
DIARIO Aruba
02/05/2008

ORANJESTAD(AAN): Monday afternoon, attorney Chris Lejuez called a press conference to clear the name of Daury Rodriguez.

It was during the program of Peter R. de Vries on SBS6 that was broadcast Sunday in Holland, that Joran van der Sloot admitted to a person who he considered a friend, Patrick van der Eem, that Natalee died with him on the beach and that he called a friend to help him throw the body at sea. According to Joran, this friend was called Daury.

Daury Rodriguez took on Lejuez as an attorney and came forward to speak to the press because he believes that Joran was referring to him when he said that Daury helped him get rid of the body.

Daury thought this because when he was little he played futbol with Joran and recently he went to the casino with Joran and he and Joran exchanged telephone numbers and internet [email] addresses.

More importantly still according to Daury is that recently a Dutch person who said that s/he is writing a book on Joran van der Sloot, called to ask various questions.

According to Daury, the only person who could have given out his number was Joran. Daury, who was born on June 28, 1986, explained to the press that he could not have been the one who helped Joran because he was in Holland.

He was in Aruba at the end of January 2005 after which he went to Holland and returned in December.

As he was working via a so-called “Uitzendbureau” [employment agency], he has sufficient proof that he was in Holland.

Aside from this, ATM machine records in Holland can be checked, where he would be seen taking cash out.

The press asked Daury if his passport could prove if he was in Aruba or not, but he said that in January 2005 he lost his passport and got a new one. DIARIO asked Daury if he had a boat and he said no.

He was also asked if the Public Ministry had approached him. His lawyer explained that Monday morning he got in touch with the Public Ministry and they requested that he [Daury] go to the police station to give a statement and he did so.

DIARIO asked Daury if he got in touch with Joran after to ask him why he mentioned his name and he said that he did. According to Daury, the only thing that Joran could say was “Sorry man, Sorry man”.

[translated by Getagrip]

Joran goes down
DIARIO Aruba
02/05/2008

ORANJESTAD(AAN): Natalee Holloway died in the arms of Joran van der Sloot. After her death, Joran let one of his friends throw the body at sea. This is what Joran admitted various times during a conversation with Peter R. de Vries’ informant who had made a recording with a hidden camera and microphone.

Sunday night, the program of Peter R. de Vries was broadcast on SBS6 and there everything was revealed. Many people in Aruba used the internet to see the program via web cam, but there was a large part of Aruba who could watch the program via Leoncita’s show on channel 90.

A man named Patrick van der Eem who was born in Curaçao, became friends with Joran over time. He was able to do this by telling Joran that he had a marijuana plantation and that he sells these drugs. According to van der Eem, Joran was impressed, given that Joran likes ‘blow’ (smoke marijuana) and little by little they became friends.

At a certain point, van der Eem decided to approach Peter R. de Vries to help with the case of Natalee, by trying to extract information from Joran. De Vries made an agreement to pay €25 thousand for his help and he came up with a plan to put secret cameras and microphones in Patrick’s car in order to try to get Joran on tape saying what happened to Natalee.

When the plan was to begin, the last order to detain Joran in November came in. After Joran was set free, he himself called his friend Patrick from Aruba. When Joran went back to Holland, Patrick and Peter de Vries’ plan continued.

The de Vries team put 3 hidden cameras in Patrick’s car and in this way was able to record Joran admitting to what happened. At first, he didn’t talk much in regards to the matter, but after he got more comfortable he told Patrick everything.

Joran said that he went to the beach with Natalee to have sex, but at a given moment, the girl [lost consciousness?] and started shaking.

After, the girl did not move anymore and Joran believed that she was dead. Patrick asked Joran if he checked for vital signs and if he tried to reanimate Natalee. At first, Joran said yes, but afterwards he admitted that he believed she was dead without properly checking.

According to Joran, he called a friend he knew he could trust from a public phone at the Marriott. This friend, who had a boat, came to him and the said for him [Joran] to go home and that he would handle everything.

The friend called Daury, would have gone with Natalee’s body in his boat and thrown it in the sea a few kilometers from the coast. Patrick asked Joran how he went home and Joran said that he went home by foot.

Patrick asked how he lied that Satish came to get him and there was no clear answer to this. After he said that he called Deepak that night. According to Joran, when he got home he got online right away in order to make do as if everything was normal and to establish when he got home.

If for any reason there was an investigation, they could see that there was no time to dispose of a body. Joran also told Patrick that he threw away his shoes in a sewer [riool] when he was walking home.

During the recording, Joran spoke in a denigrating way about the Kalpoe brothers, but he said that they had nothing to do with the case.

He called them at night to go to Carlos and Charlie’s because Deepak had a nice Honda with which they could impress the American girls.

Joran told Patrick that he was very lucky that they hadn’t found the girl’s body. According to Joran, he knew that the friend who helped him would not say anything. He said that police never interrogated his friend Daury.

Aside from trusting Daury, Joran also said that he knows something about Daury, and that for this reason Daury will not say anything. During the program on SBS6, Peter de Vries showed Natalee’s mom the recording with English subtitles and the mother was wide-eyed for everything she was hearing, among other things how Joran called her daughter a p… [whore].

Now more than every, Beth Twitty is very upset and wants Joran to pay for what he says he did. Especially given that if Joran had called authorities, for example 911, Natalee could have still been saved.

The question remains whether Natalee was truly dead at the time she was thrown at sea.



[translated by Getagrip]

Because of abuse Diario Online suffered
Diario stops all Google Ads
DIARIO Aruba
02/05/2008

ORANJESTAD (AAN): The youchoose.net web site purchased ads from the Google Ads service and their promotion[al campaign] was to ‘Boycott Aruba’.

By misfortune, DIARIO Online was also running Google ads and on the weekend, various visitors to DIARIO’s web site ran into the campaign to ‘Boycott Aruba for Natalee’.

The content of the ads depends on Google and DIARIO doesn’t have any say in it. They are fed to DIARIO every time with hundreds of ads related to ‘Aruba’

By bad luck, the one of ‘Boycott Aruba’ appeared on the DIARIO web site. The DIARIO Daily has clearly indicated that it does not support the boycott. Because of this, management is upset that Google Inc. used space obtained on DIARIO Online to promote the propaganda of Boycott Aruba.

Various DIARIO Online readers reported what was happening and showed that they understood that DIARIO has no say in the content of Google Ads, but they found that something had to be done.

For this reason, the decision was taken that DIARIO Online will stop using Google Ads on its web site.

[translated by Getagrip]

Doubt about the use of ‘evidence’ from hidden camera
Amigoe.com
02/04/2008

ORANJESTAD/DEN HAAG – The Dutch top-lawyer Gerard Spong expressed his doubts about the use of ‘evidence’ collected with a hidden camera. He did this in the TV-program Nova yesterday evening. Peter R. de Vries says that with these images, he has solved the Natalee Holloway-case, because Joran van der Sloot has supposedly confessed to a friend his involvement with the disappearance of Holloway.

The question whether the evidence with a hidden camera is illegal and whether the Aruban justice is allowed to use that, is ‘contriving’. He then refers to the Netherlands’ sentence by the European Court in Straatsburg on October 25, 2007 for the use of secret tape recordings. “That was according to the European Court, a violation of the right on privacy. This court decided that monitoring and recording conversations by a private person in the context of and on behalf of an official investigation with the use of technical assistance of the police, is inadmissible.”

According to Spong, even without the assistance of the police, penetrating the personal life with visual technical means is also inadmissible. “But if that illegal evidence is given to justice on a silver plate, it may, according to the verdict, still be used in some cases. I am not certain whether this is also the case here, but it is indeed exiting.”

Besides, whether Van der Sloot had lied in his ‘confession’ or not, it still is not a confession about murder, says the lawyer. According to Antillean law, a person that buries, hides, carries off, or takes off a body with the intention of concealing the death, will be sentenced to a maximum of 6 months imprisonment or a fine of a maximum of 300 guilders. It is not possible to keep the person in custody for such fact. Spong is wondering why, after professional judicial advice of his father, Joran van der Sloot, while knowing that the criminal consequences for him are so relatively small, has opted to remain silent in the Holloway-case.

Confession was a sham

Amigoe.com
02/04/2008

HILVERSUM/ORANJESTAD -- Joran van der Sloot said in the Dutch TV-program Pauw & Witteman that his ‘confession’, of which Peter R. de Vries has recordings, was made up. “I just told him what he wanted to hear”, said Joran. His Aruban lawyer, Ariean de Bie confirms the story: “He didn’t know that he was dealing with a so-called friend. The man spoke perfect Papiamento and is from Aruba. What he told him was rubbish.”

The whole day on Friday it looked like Natalee Holloway’s case was solved. Several media ‘disclosed’ little by little the ‘missing’ information that De Vries supposedly has and is going to show in his program on the Dutch commercial broadcast SBS6. Due to carnival and broadcasting rights, the images won’t be shown live in Aruba. However, NOS Journal may show sections of the broadcasting on BVN that same day.

It became clear yesterday that the infiltrator was an older man. “It was so foolish, so foolish”, said Joran about what he did. “What I have told him, is not correct. That is also easy to figure out.” He gave an unambiguous answer on how to do that. He also didn’t give an answer on why he lied again. “That’s something I also ask myself”, he said. “There is not one reason why you should believe me. I have just been tricked.”

LITTLE BOAT

In his ‘confession’ he had said that he made love to Natalee Holloway, who was probably under the influence of drugs, felt sick and died. Where the investigation closed last year with Joran saying that he left the girl alone on the beach, he now ‘confessed’ to the infiltrator that he had called a friend, who came to the disaster scene with a little boat. The friend had supposedly dumped the body of Holloway in sea. When he was asked who the friend is, he didn’t say that the person does not exist, as would be expected from a person that is innocent. He said that he can proof that he had met that friend after the disappearance of Natalee. He also said that he had recently talked to the ‘infiltrator-friend’ and the ‘boat-friend’.

All the possible telephone conversations that Joran had that evening, were traced to the last detail. Several jurists point out that such a confession without supplementary evidence – boat, friend, telephone conversations – does not solve the case. Peter R. de Vries has meanwhile reacted again saying that Joran’s explanation is ‘completely not impressive’. He was even less impressed with Jeroen Pauw and Paul Witteman’s interview with Joran. He says that the two presenters didn’t ask him critical questions. It seems like they were so pleased that he wanted to talk to them on the phone that out of modesty, they forgot that they are journalists.”

PRIMETIME

De Vries’ announcement that he has solved the case, caused a barrage of international media-attention. The American TV-station ABC has meanwhile bought the episode of De Vries’ program from producer Endemol, who has the broadcasting rights, and will broadcast it in primetime on Monday.

Several news-casts, including CNN mentioned Friday that the OM in Aruba has already arrested Joran van der Sloot. Report is in the Netherlands that Joran van der Sloot went into hiding and keeps all media far away from him since his telephone conversation with Pauw & Witteman.

Just hours after Joran van der Sloot mentioned to Paul and Witteman that his confession in the Holloway-case was a lie, a lot of American media, like Associated Press, CNN, International Herald Tribune and the TV-stations FoxNews and ABC News reported this new development, ‘Student denies involvement in Holloway-case’. ABC is going to dedicate 90 minutes to the last hours of the, at that time 18-year old Natalee Holloway in Aruba. Since the beginning of the disappearance-case in 2005, hundreds of articles about the American Holloway and Joran van der Sloot were published in the American media.

PROSECUTOR PARTS WITH DIRECTION

“Which prosecutor parts with the direction and four days later, allows a crime journalist to bring his ‘evidence’ into the open?” is Renée Gielen’s reaction. The TV- and documentary producer in Curacao has been following the Holloway-case from the beginning and has announced that she is making a documentary on one of the most talked-about disappearance cases ever.

“This same prosecutor (Hans Mos, red.) was not willing to listen to my findings. When last week Monday I called him for an appointment, he told me that ‘he is very busy finishing up a case and that he has no time; he was soon leaving for the Netherlands for a few weeks and that I had to call him at the end of February. He also told me that I have all sorts of theories and only his is the correct one’.

So, I cannot tell the OM or the police of my findings. Dolphi Richardson told me that the police are no longer allowed to accept anything and referred me kindly to the OM. The entire world thinks that the case stops with Joran, but the case only started after Joran left Natalee alone on the beach.”

The hidden camera interviews

A loosely transcribed version can be found on Equivocation Nation.


Natalee Holloway Update 20; Peter R. De Vries Slams Joran's book!! Joran knows exactly what
happened!!! Confession coming up live on tape!!!

Natalee Holloway Update 21; Peter's reconstruction of events.

Natalee Holloway Update 22; Patrick van der Eem's background and how he got the confession.

Natalee Holloway Update 23; Joran knows something. Where the body is, who killed her, etc. Justice department 'idiots' says van der Sloot

Natalee Holloway Update 24; Joran believed himself to be invincible. Confesses to dumping the body, she died 'spontaneously'

Natalee Holloway Update 25; Joran more 'relaxed' after confession. "She was just Dead... CPR did not work..."

Natalee Holloway Update 26; Joran goes into more detail at van der Eem's request....Accomplice revealed, Daury (last name withheld)

Natalee Holloway Update 27; Joran might still be lying according to de Vries. He will not investigate"Daury" to not ruin the police's chances

Natalee Holloway Update 28; Final Questions answered, why did he lie? Beth twitty distressed.

Natalee Holloway Update 29 De Vries presents the evidence to Hans Mos, the main prosecutor, he is impressed.