DUTCH JUDICIAL SYSTEM

De-railed the Natalee Holloway Case

The Judicial Courts in Holland allowed conflicts of interest to run rampant through the Aruban courts in favor of Paulus and Joran van der Sloot.

Much has been said about the incompetence and corruption by the Aruban Prosecutor and Police Department in failing to bring justice in the Natalee Holloway case, but the Dutch Judicial system bears equal responsibility. The Dutch judges rulings in favor of the van der Sloot family reek of a good ole boy system that is hell bent on protecting their own nationality over foreigners who innocently get trapped in their criminal justice system.

A SERIOUS CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The courts in all of the Netherland Antilles are managed and executed from Holland, where judges are sent to the islands to preside over the judicial proceedings of Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire. Paulus van der Sloot, father of the prime suspect in Natalee Holloway’s disappearance, was a judge-in-training in this very judicial system, working alongside and making the acquaintance of the judges in the Dutch system. Indeed, it has been reported that some of these judges were very close friends outside the official duties of the courts.

EDITOR JOSSY MANSUR OF DIARIO NEWSPAPER
ON NANCY GRACE October 4, 2005

GRACE: … Jossy, regarding the connection, what I perceived to be a close connection between the judge, Paulus Van Der Sloot and the retired chief of police who initially handled Natalee`s case, Van Der Stratten, were they friends?
MANSUR: Of course, they were friends. It stands to reason they were friends because Paul Van Der Sloot had many friends within the police department; he had many friends within the Department of Justice. And he had many friends with -- and he was friendly with all the judges in Aruba. He worked out of the same office as they did and did the same work.

Such a close working relationship with the Dutch judges during his training created an obvious conflict of interest when his son, and he himself, became implicated in the disappearance and very possible murder of Natalee Holloway. The Dutch Judicial system in Holland should have recognized such an obvious hazard to justice but chose to do nothing, allowing friends and acquaintances of van der Sloot to preside over the court hearings of both Paulus and his son.

The outcome of the judges’ rulings in the Natalee Holloway case have cast a dark shadow over the Dutch judicial system. It should be noted that Paulus van der Sloot was also arrested in the case for conspiracy to commit murder, and these same judges ruled on his case as well. The end result, as one might expect, is that both van der Sloots were freed from prosecution. It is apparent from all the rulings in the case that the Dutch cannot police their own, justice be damned.

CHOOSING THE CURACAO JUDGES WAS A PUBLIC RELATIONS CHARADE

Two weeks into the the court process in this case, the Arubans announce that they were going to use Dutch judges from Curacao to make all of the court rulings so as to avoid a conflict of interest. The judges would be flown into Aruba to court hearings concerning Paulus van der Sloot, Joran an der sloot, Deepak Kalpoe, Satish Kalpoe and any others the prosecutor and police arrested.

We now know this was nothing but a charade. Bringing in the Dutch judges from Curacao was no different than using Aruban judges. There aren't that many judges on the islands, and they all work closely together within the same judicial circlies. Paulus van der Sloot trained under the Curacao judges just as he did those in Aruba and it has been reported that at least one of them stayed at his home while visiting the island.

The islands are closely located geographically and all work under the same Dutch court system. Why the judicial authorities in Holland didn't recognize this and demand a team of un-attached judges rule on such a high profile case is highly questionable.

JUDGE ROBERT WIT OBSTRUCTS THE GATHERING OF EVIDENCE

Joran van der Sloot was arrested on June 9, 2005 and a search warrant was issued for a complete search of the Van der Sloot residence and property five days later on June 14th. When the prosecution and police teams arrived to search the home they were met at the door by Dutch judge Robert Wit who summarily change the search warrant on the spot to exclude the Van der Sloot main residence and grounds, limiting the search only to Joran’s small apartment in the back of the house.

Judge Wit blocked the search of the van der Sloot residence even though he knew through Joran's police statements that he said he was in the main house in the early morning hours when he returned home after supposedly dropping Ms. Holloway off. In other words, Judge Wit ignored testimony by a key suspect to obstruct the collection of evidence from the suspect's residence.

Joran was arrested twice and his father was arrested once in the first month of the investigation. The main residence of the Van der Sloot home was never searched after either of these arrests.

Beth Twitty
withMartha MacCallum FOX NEWS LIVE DESK- Nov. 28/06

BETH: Well I think they will always have to look at there were two personnel involved from the Aruban Justice Department and that is why we don’t have any evidence and that’s what Joran’s attorney will have to be reminded of. It’s because of Bob Witt and Ben King stopped the search warrants. It was made to initially search the entire area of Montanja 19 the garden, the buildings and everything but on the spot high ranking employee of the Justice Office Bob Witt reduced the search warrant to only the room of Joran so that’s why we don’t have any evidence because of involvement of the obstruction from the Aruban Justice Department personnel.

Judge Wit did this knowing that Joran had given statements that he was in the main house the night and morning Natalee Holloway went missing, and there may have been evidence to be obtained within. Judge Wit was assisted by Ben Vocking, a high ranking official in the Aruba Prosecutor’s office who had taken a leave of absence to take care of his friend Paulus van der Sloot during his “time of need.”

PETER DEVRIES
WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN (FOX NEWS) November 27, 2006

VAN SUSTEREN: What about the search of the van der Sloot property? Was that ever done, and was, you know--including, sort of, the cabana area where Joran lives?
DE VRIES: Well, the search in the home address of the family Van der Sloot was very strange because the search warrant was made by head prosecutor Karin Janssen, and contained an allowance to search the whole address, “Montanja nineteen.” So, the gardens, the buildings--everything. But, when the police was on the spot, another high-ranking employee of the Justice office--it was Mr. Bob Witt--reduced the search warrant to only the room of Joran--and that was very strange.

PETER DEVRIES
THE ROBERT JENSEN SHOW (HOLLAND) November 28, 2006

DEVRIES: Yes the police missed several changes to do things right: when they wanted to search the house the door was opened by Mr. Ben King, an assistant of the Procurements Gen. office, the highest justice-office on the island, and a friend of the family who wanted to support the VdSloots in these difficult times… So clearly the search of the house hadn’t been a surprise to the VdSloots. And the police had a warrant for the complete estate but a judge - Bob Wit - who was at the house as well said only Joran's room could be searched.

These are things a Dutch crime-reporter is of course totaly astonished about. Justice Department official Ben King, who later admitted to the media that he was a close friend of Paulus Van der Sloot, claimed he was on vacation and therefore not acting on behalf of the Justice department. It was King who personally informed the search team they could only search the small apartment of Joran Van Der Sloot, located in the back yard of the property just behind the main residence, when they arrived.

Also present at the Van Der Sloot residence was Dutch Judge Bob Witt from Curacao, who was one judge presiding over the case. It should be noted that Paulus Van der Sloot was a Dutch judge-in-training at the time of Natalee Holloway’s disappearance.

By limiting the search of the van der Sloot residence and property, Judge Wit obstructed justice by inhibiting the collecting of evidence and should be removed from the bench, and charged with this crime, before he causes even more damage within the Dutch judicial system.

We will also note here that two innocent black security guards were arrested for the crime four days before Joran was detained. The judge did not limit the search when they were paraded before the media while the Prosecutor and Police ransacked their full residences. The two guards were later released but not before the Dutch judge had made sure their lives were made miserable.

How ironic that the Dutch judges had no consideration for two black security guards who were arrested for a crime they had nothing to do with, and yet had time to block the search of a fellow white Dutch compatriot whose son, Joran van der Sloot, is still to this day the main suspect in the disappearance and murder of Natalee Holloway.

COLLUSION BETWEEN A DUTCH JUDGE AND THE ARUBA GOVERNMENT

Under Dutch law it is optional for a judge to attend the search of a suspect's house. We found no evidence one had been present at the security guards' homes when they were raided. Yet, we find Judge Bob Wit not only attending the search of the van der sloot home but already in the house when the search team arrives, destroying any element of surprise the authorities may have gained.

At the van der Sloot residence with Judge Wit was a high ranking official of the Aruba Prosecutor's office, Ben Vocking, who served as the Head of the Department of Prosecutor Support. The Prosecutor, Karin Jannsen at the time, is the very person who called for a search warrant so it is safe to assume both Judge Bob Wit and Ben Vocking had inside information into the search and many other aspects of the case. Vocking had taken a leave of absence the day after Natalee Holloway disappeared to be with his friend Paulus van der Sloot in his time of need. Clearly this is yet another conflict of interest between the government and the suspect in the case, Joran van der Sloot.

But the fact that Judge Bob Wit was at the home with government official Ben Vocking when the search party arrived raises even deeper questions about collusion between the judiciary and goverment. Certainly a judge does not go to a home and greet the suspects and inform them of an impending search before the authorities arrive. This would go against the grain of any effective investigation and curry favor to the suspect. Should the judge have not been with the Prosecutor and Police when they arrived at the house?

Why was Judge Bob Wit already in the house? All of this suggests collusion between a Dutch judge and a high ranking official from the Aruba Prosecutor's office to obstruct justice in the Natalee Holloway case.

JUDGE RICK SMID SHIELDS MAIN SUSPECT FROM PROSECUTION

In a hearing on June 1, 2005 Dutch judge Rick Smid ruled there was sufficient evidence to keep Joran van der Sloot in detention for an additional 30 days. Then in a baffling move, he flies back to Curacao and faxes in a reversal of the ruling he’d made only a few hours earlier, freeing van der Sloot from jail. Within three days Joran van der Sloot was on an airplane for Holland, and to make sure van der Sloot would never face prosecution, the judges gave Joran and the Kalpoe brothers immunity from ever being questioned again about this case.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 1, 2005

The judge in the case issued two rulings: In the first, he agreed with prosecutors' request to extend the period of van der Sloot's pretrial detention by 30 more days. But later Thursday, the judge issued another ruling that sided with the defense — an order to immediately suspend the execution of his earlier pretrial detention order.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9163292/

BETH TWITTY
NANCY GRACE September 13, 2005

GRACE: What was the grounds? Why did they release them?
TWITTY: You know, Nancy, there was absolutely no -- no grounds for them to be released. And I spoke with the Dutch interrogators. And even as of September the 1st, things were really progressing well, and Joran and Deepak and Satish, they had -- these young men had divided, and they were not denying a crime anymore. They were merely implicating each other. And the list of inconsistencies was presented before Judge Smit. The reasonable doubt was there. I don`t have any idea why he fled the island and then faxed a reversal decision. It just is incredible.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/13/ng.01.html

Judge Rick Smid was well aware at the time of his ruling that in their police statements Joran and the Kalpoe brothers differed on key events that supposedly occurred that night. Joran had told five different stories about how he got home that night, none of them agreeing with the Kalpoes’ account. Joran had also said in one of his statements that Deepak murdered Natalee and buried her on the beach near the Fishermen’s Huts, a statment that Deepak vehemently denied. One of the suspects even admitted to police interrogators that "Something bad happened to Natalee." the night she disappeared.

JOSSY MANSUR, EDITOR DIARIO ARUBA
Monday, November 21, 2005

They themselves admitted to police during interrogations that something bad happened to Natalee while she was with them, without specifying what ‘something bad’ was! That they admitted to committing sexual abuse against her. ??It is not extensive that the judge who presided over the case and decided that some things were inadmissible. He could be the best judge in the world, but in this case, he made light of and greatly neglected to pay attention to the three suspects’ admissions, since he didn’t even interrogate them about what was left hanging in the air, such as the declaration of Joran at the beach that he believes that Deepak raped and killed Natalee! How did this matter end there? How were the other accusations and counter-accusations among the three suspects not evaluated for their just content?

In essence, there were many differences in the three suspects’ stories which would indicate one or more of them were guilty of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, but Judge Smid chose to ignore these discrepancies. He also used an obscure ruling from the Ponson case that stated Joran’s eduction was of utmost importance—moreso than the murder investigation—which allowed Joran to flee the island and opened the door for the judges from Curacao to land the final blow on the case by lifting all restrictions against the main suspects.

In another move on behalf of Paulus van der Sloot and his son Joran, at the end of July, 2005 Judge Rick Smid ordered the DNA taken from the three main suspects destroyed. Joran van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers remain the three main suspects to this day, with Joran being considered the prime suspect.

Judge Rick Smid is a pox on the Dutch judicial system and should be removed from office. The damage he and Judge Bob Wit did to the Natalee Holloway case is unfathomable, and both of these judges should be punished for their actions.

Furthermore the top judicial officials in Holland should start an investigation as to why these judges who were friends and acquaintances of Paulus van der Sloot were allowed to rule on the court proceedings for both he and his son.

THE CURACAO JUDGES ACT IN UNISON TO FREE THE VAN DER SLOOTS

Three weeks after Judge Smid released Joran under the obscure Ponson rule (which originally applied to a baseball player's right to get an eductaion, a crime nowhere as serious as rape and murder) a panel of three judges released all restrictions on Joran van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers. They were all free to leave the island and never had to return for questioning by the police interrogators again. These judges also knew of the conflicting stories between Joran Van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers but totally ignored them in spite of the fact they suggest guilt.

JOSSY MANSUR, EDITOR DIARIO ARUBA
Monday, October 1, 2005

Did the judge who came from Curacao probably plan take the decisions he took, spoiled the case? With all due respect for the position you have taken, have you seen what happened???The case was resolved in phases the same judge planned: first release Paul v.d. Sloot , then he came back to release the Kalpoe brothers and the third phase he executed now when came to set Joran free because Joran expressed his wish to continue his studies. ??I have similarly not made any accusations of any sort against the Kalpoe brothers; what I have repeated is what can be found in the Polis reports where they started pointing the fingers one against the other! It is in these three phases here that Americans see the corruption of our justice system.

With the ruling in Curacao, the Dutch judges had now accomplished their mission of denying justice to Natalee Holloway and her family. These biased rulings have de-railed the case the Holloway case and smack of corruption among all the Dutch juges in the Netherland Antilles.

THE DUTCH JUDICIARY SHOULD HAVE IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZED THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN THE NATALEE HOLLOWAY CASE AND SENT A TEAM OF UNBIASED JUDGES TO THE NETHERLAND ANTILLES TO OVERSEE THE CASE. INSTEAD, THEY LET CORRUPTION RUN RAMPANT WHICH HAS RESULTED IN THE CRIMES AGAINST MISS HOLLOWAY TO GO UNPUNISHED.

DUTCH AUTHORITIES IN HOLLAND SHOULD HAVE RECOGNIZED THE SERIOUS CONFLICTS OF INTEREST THAT WERE TAKING PLACE IN THEIR LEGAL SYSTEM AND STEPPED UP TO PUT AN END TO THEM INSTEAD OF TURNING A BLIND EYE TO THE OBVIOUS CORRUPTION THAT WAS TAKING PLACE.

*Why did Dutch officials in Holland not recognize such an obvious conflict of interest in their renegade judges’ ruling for one of their co-workers and friends?

*Why didn’t Dutch judicial officials in Holland immediately send in a team of unbiased judges who had no working or recreational relationship with Paulus van der Sloot?

*Why did the Dutch judiciary sit back and allow a limited search of the van der Sloot residence when they knew from his statements that Joran was in the main house that night?

*Why would a Dutch judge team up with a member of the Prosecutor's office to prevent a search if he did not have inside information into the case against one of his co-workers?

*Why did the Prosecutor's office allow Ben Vocking, a high ranking member of their own staff with inside information into the case, to take work leave in order to assist the suspects in the case?

*If Paulus and Joran van der Sloot were innocent of any crime as they claim, why would a Dutch judge and a high ranking member of the Prosecutor's office be needed to intervene in a search of their residence?

*Why did Judge Rick Smid release all three of the main suspects from further questioning when he knew very well their stories didn’t match up?

*When will the Dutch right the obvious wrongs that have taken place in the Natalee Holloway case and curb the damage they have done to their judiciary system in the world of public opinion?

Natalee and her family deserve justice, and we will not let up until they have it!
Natalee's Freebirds