Public Prosecutor’s office
goes up in flames; arson suspected
PHILIPSBURG--A large part of the Public Prosecutor’s office in Front Street was destroyed by fire. Authorities believe it was a deliberate attempt to sabotage the prosecutor’s work, around 5:00am on Sunday, January 16.
Chief Prosecutor Cor Merx has called the action of the arsonist(s) bold and is furious that someone could do such a thing.
Merx says work will go on as normal and that nothing will stop Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s regularly scheduled Court sessions.
Merx was at the scene of the fire shortly after 7:00am. He said, “When I came into my office, I saw a disaster and got furious, because you have to be bold to do something like that. But I recovered, for you have to recover and get on your feet. Monday we have to serve the people and the court cases on Tuesday and Wednesday will not have a problem.”
The fire reportedly started around 5:15am, after unknown person(s), using gasoline, set the front office on fire. The bottle that contained the gasoline was found at the scene of the fire shortly after by fire fighters who had been called.
The fire completely engulfed the front office, which is usually occupied by a receptionist and secretary for the Prosecutors, and made its way into the offices of Chief Prosecutor Merx and Prosecutor Johan de Vrieze, destroying several items, including computers.
Merx said the prosecutors will work out of an adjacent office in the same building, thanks to the generosity of his “good neighbour.”
He calls the fire a very disappointing act and says thankfully the police are working very hard to find the culprits.
On Sunday night several heavily armed Voluntary Corps officers were seen outside the building standing guard to protect the files and other items which survived the fire.
Merx said that based on the serious nature of the situation, the Attorney General of the Netherlands Antilles in Curaçao, along with the Chief Prosecutor of Curaçao, will arrive early today (Monday) to assess the damage and determine what form of assistance they can give.
Sources say three men driving in an old model white Toyota Corolla had driven up to the building where the office is situated. One of the men had climbed on top of the car and had been given a red jerry can which he carried with him to the window where the receptionist sits. He subsequently had thrown gasoline into the building, then had lit it and run away.
When asked whether there was reason for concern on the part of the prosecutors that the violent act was just the beginning, and if there was need to take personal security measures, Merx said, “We are not worried.”
He said, “If it shows up as something that comes up frequently, then we have to take measures, but for now we have to treat this as just one incident.”
Merx said, “We are part of community and we also have to consider that the more protection we have, the more our privacy is taken away from us. There is no reason to think that this will lead to an attack on our persons.”
While detectives busied themselves checking for clues, the prosecutors, along with employees of their office and some of the Court of First Instance, were checking through the burnt items for anything that they thought could be salvaged. Several of them were seen lifting partially burnt computers and documents out of the burnt offices.
