PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT

Joran and Paulus Van Der Sloot were given preferential treatment throughout the Natalee Holloway Investigation

Does the Dutch aristocracy in Aruba protect their own from criminal prosecution as a matter of routine? Or is the Natalee Holloway case an exception? It is apparent Joran Van Der Sloot and his father received preferential treatment from the very beginning of the investigation and are still being afforded special status to this day.

It is a well-known fact that the Lead Investigator assigned to the case, Jan Van der Straten, is a close friend of Joran’s father, Paulus Van Der Sloot. Minister of Justice Rudy Croes reported many suspicious telephone calls between Jan Van der Straten and Paulus Van Der Sloot in the very early stages of the investigation.

Jan Van der Straten knew by the first day of Natalee’s reported disappearance that the three main suspects last seen with the teen, Joran Van Der Sloot and Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, had lied to police about dropping Natalee off at the Holiday Inn. A review of the hotel security tapes by Natalee’s mother revealed that fact. Yet Prosecutor Karin Janssen failed to arrest the three suspects and search their homes, moves she was afforded under Dutch law, as the world witnessed with the arrest of the two innocent, framed security guards. No such arrests were made for 10 more days, and then only the Kalpoe residence was searched – while the van der Sloot apartment wasn’t ordered to be searched for another six days.

Dutch law also states that lying as a witness is a punishable crime, and yet no such charges have ever been brought against these criminals.

Let us not forget that Paulus Van Der Sloot was a judge-in-training at the time his son was the last person seen with Natalee Holloway. It has recently come to light that a Dutch Judge, Jacob Robert Wit, and a high-ranking justice official, Ben (Voc)King were at the Van Der Sloot home the day Aruban authorities arrived to search the Van Der Sloot property. Although the original search warrant was granted for a full search of all the buildings and grounds, Judge Wit changed the order on the spot to limit the search to only Joran’s small apartment.

Those are just some examples of Joran Van der Sloot being given preferential treatment by the high-ranking officials of Aruba’s Justice Department and Police department. The interrogation of the suspects was, at best, a softball approach with no follow-up for answers to what is a very puzzling series of lies and contradictions. In some of the interrogations the interviewers were forced to have cameras present which may have been a tactic to limit their effectiveness. Such videotaping of interrogations is not common practice in Aruba, but Joran van der Sloot was afforded this privilege. Who ordered this done?

Listed below are many instances of preferential treatment given to prime suspect Joran Van Der Sloot during the investigation of the Natalee Holloway case:

1- JORAN VAN DER SLOOT LIES TO POLICE BUT IS NOT ARRESTED

Joran Van der Sloot was not arrested for 10 days despite the fact police and justice department officials knew he and the Kalpoe brothers lied about dropping her off at the Holiday Inn.

Prosecutor Karin Janssen and Lead Investigator Jan Van Der Straten knew within 24 hours that the three suspects had lied to them about dropping Natalee off at the Holiday Inn but chose not to treat them as suspects. Jan Van der Straten, according to Paulus Van Der Sloot, is a "close friend", a blatant conflict of interest by any stretch of the imagination.

2- POLICE ARREST TWO INNOCENT BLACK GUARDS DESPITE KNOWING JORAN VAN DER SLOOT AND THE KALPOES LIED

Instead of arresting Joran and the Kalpoe brothers, the Prosecutor and Aruban police arrested two black security guards based on the lie the three suspects had told. The arrest of the two guards was executed with full knowledge the suspects had lied.

By arresting the two black guards they allowed Joran Van der Sloot and the Kalpoe`s five more days to destroy evidence and collaborate on their stories.

3- DUTCH JUDGE BOB WITT HAMPERS THE INVESTIGATION BY NOT ALLOWING A FULL SEARCH OF THE VAN DER SLOOT PROPERTY

Dutch Judge Jacob "Bob" Wit was present at the Van Der Sloot home on June 16th for the specific purpose of denying a search of the Van Der Sloot main residence and grounds when in fact the original warrant called for a full search. A full search was denied by a Dutch Judge again when Paulus Van Der Sloot was arrested on June 23rd.

Paulus Van Der Sloot was a judge in training in the Dutch judicial system and no doubt had many friends who were judges in the system. Any judge who wanted to appear un-biased would have allowed the full property to be searched but Judge Bob Wit limited searching to only Joran's small apartment. It should also be noted that the search of the two black security guards' homes included the entire premises.

4- PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT WAS ALLOWED TO CHANGE HIS SON'S STATEMENT TO POLICE

Paulus Van Der Sloot was allowed to be present when the Aruban police took Joran's first witness statement and was allowed to edit Joran's statement before it was entered into the public record. That statement is still missing.

Furthermore it was his close friend and Lead Investigator Jan van der Straten who was present for the statement and allowed Paulus Van Der Sloot to edit his son's statement.

5- PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT HAD ACCESS TO INVESTIGATORS' CASE FILES

Paulus Van Der Sloot was allowed to read the police records of the investigation by using his access to the Justice department files, allowing him to know exactly what the police and Prosecutor were doing in the case. The Prosecutor should have immediately blocked such access but chose not to.

6- DETECTIVE DENNIS JACOBS, A CLOSE ASSOCIATE OF JAN VAN DER STARTEN, WAS ALLOWED TO CONDUCT JORAN VAN DER SLOOT'S INTERVIEWS

Many of Joran Van Der Sloot’s statements were taken by officer Dennis Jacobs, a detective who showed no interest in solving the case as witnessed by his apathy toward Dave Holloway during their first meeting. Jacob's first comments to Dave Holloway on June 1st were, "Why would you want to do a search" and "Just go down to Carlos & Charlie's and have a beer, she'll show up."

It should be noted that Dennis Jacobs was a narcotics detective, not a homicide detective, and his choice to conduct interrogation is highly suspect. Jacob's apathy toward solving the case shows clearly in the "softball" manner in which his interviews with Joran were conducted and the lack of follow-up questions.

7- DUTCH JUDGES RELEASE JORAN VAN DER SLOOT AND ALLOWS HIM TO FLEE THE ISLAND WITHOUT GIVING FURTHER TESTIMONY

Judge Smid had originally ruled that Joran should be held another 30 days in detention but faxed in a reversal of his decision immediately after leaving the island and returning to the island of Curacao. Three weeks later a panel of Dutch judges ruled that Joran and the Kalpoe brothers would never have to give further testimony on the case unless it was on a "voluntary" basis despite the fact that the three suspects were telling conflicting stories.

Natalee and her family deserve justice, and we will not let up until they have it.

Natalee's Freebirds