POINTE BLANCHE--As criminal lawyers in St. Maarten continue their strike, which they started last week, the handling of criminal court cases may be in limbo, as the lawyers’ demands have not yet been met.
All criminal lawyers have been on strike since Thursday, June 11, because they refuse to be sprayed with disinfectant before being allowed entry to the Pointe Blanche prison to consult with their clients.
St. Maarten Bar Association Dean Geert Hatzmann announced the strike last week in a letter to acting prison director Rikson Martina.
In the letter, a copy of which was sent to Minister of Justice Anna Richardson, Hatzmann stated that lawyers can only enter the prison when they are prepared to be sprayed. However, members of the Police Force are not submitted to this anti-coronavirus measure, the Bar Association said.
Lawyers consider spraying someone from head to toe with a chemical substance a significant violation of their physical integrity. They called on the minister and the prison director to immediately halt the spraying of lawyers and said their strike would continue until their demands were met.
The strike means that the lawyers will no longer visit their clients in prison and in the police cells in Philipsburg, and that they will not assist them in Court.
Up to Monday the minister and the prison director had not responded to the lawyers’ demands. Therefore, the strike will remain in force for the time being, Hatzmann said Monday. “The minister has not approached us directly, but has defended the spray measure,” he explained.
Attorney Shaira Bommel had brought the case to the Bar Association’s attention. She declined to undergo treatment with disinfectant prior to visiting her clients A.E.L. (37) and L.I.W. (41), who are facing charges of armed robbery and illegal firearm possession.
Their cases were to be heard in the Court of First Instance on Wednesday, June 10, but were postponed until Wednesday, June 17, because the suspects had been unable to consult their lawyer. Due to the continuation of the strike these cases may now be delayed even further.
In total, there are six cases scheduled for Wednesday’s sitting of the Court of First Instance, including two cases against “revolving door” criminal A.N.R. (56).
Bommel had filed an injunction against the prison measure last week based on the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, the Court declared the lawyer’s case inadmissible because the minister and the prison director had not been called to appear in Court and because the judge considered this not to be a criminal but a civil procedure.
“I disagree with this and have, therefore, filed for appeal against the decision that was made verbally. I am still waiting for the date when the appeal will be heard,” Bommel said Monday.
