National Detectives conducting a search of Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel’s home on October 22. (File photo)
PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) and former Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure VROMI Christophe Emmanuel claims that the search of his home on October 22, 2019, was illegal and requested the return of documents and an iPhone during a Court hearing on Wednesday.
Emmanuel was arrested two months ago on suspicion of abuse of his position as a minister, and of forgery, or complicity in such acts.
In the so-called “Begonia” investigation the former minister and another suspect are accused of unlawfully long-leasing government land to acquaintances at the end of their tenure in 2017.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Emmanuel issued more than 10,000 square metres in long-lease agreements to eight persons, three of whom were part of his cabinet, including his chief of staff, while he was still VROMI minister and before the government of which he was a member was ousted by a new majority in Parliament. The ministerial decrees for all eight persons were signed on December 15, 2017.
On the day of Emmanuel’s arrest his home in South Reward was searched as part of the investigation. Emmanuel’s lawyer Zylena Bary claimed on Wednesday that the search was illegal, as an incorrect house number was mentioned in the search warrant.
Emmanuel was not present at the hearing, during which his lawyer requested the return of the seized documents and the phone.
The prosecutor said in response to the lawyer’s requests that part of the confiscated documents have already been returned to the suspect and that the remaining documents will follow during the course of this week.
He said the phone could not yet be returned. According to the prosecutor, Emmanuel has declined to make his phone’s access code available to the police. Currently, forensic experts in Curaçao are working on data from this phone. Once that is done the phone will be returned to its owner, the prosecutor said.
The judge did not immediately make a decision on the requests. Instead, the hearing was suspended until Wednesday, December 18. In the meantime, the prosecutor has to prove that the house search was carried out on the order of the attorney-general, which is mandatory when a (former) minister is suspected of crimes. This is separate from the procedure in the Joint Court of Justice in which the Prosecutor’s Office is required to request permission for the prosecution of ministers and members of parliament.
There is no case file as yet and the Prosecutor’s Office has not yet made a decision to prosecute Emmanuel, the prosecutor explained.