PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — By request of the Public Prosecutor, last Friday, March 14, the judge made a decision in regards to T.H.’s detention. During the proceedings circumstances associated with being detained in another country was elaborated on and the judge established then that there are compelling arguments for the continued detention of T.H. in Bonaire.
The court upheld the petition of the OM and ruled that T.H. will remain in detention in Bonaire for the 60 days. The staff at the JCI prison on Bonaire is addressing the health concerns of T.H., as it also does for others in the institution.
The Minister of Justice has no role in this judicial proceeding concerning pre-trial detention, contrary to what is suggested in the media. These are autonomous judicial decisions, without political interference.
The Minister is responsible for the presence of an adequate detention facility on Sint Maarten, where all detainees can be housed.
At the moment, apart from T.H. there are other Sint Maarten prisoners being housed in detention facilities throughout the Kingdom. The Prosecutor considers this situation unfortunate, because a prison is an important institution for any country and prisoners should be able to be housed without risks and in a humane manner.
Currently, Sint Maarten still has insufficient capacity for the number of detainees. For these reasons, the OM adjusted its detention policy a few months ago.
