Dear Editor,
The detention of my son has certainly brought me a lot of sadness, frustration and anger.
I still feel as if Theo was kidnapped. On that night, without formal notice two masked police officers abducted him from his cell; took him to a car that rushed him to a flight for Bonaire. They were in such a rush that they “forgot” his gout medication.
In Bonaire they’ve been interrogating him, sometimes for up to 8 hours with only a break for lunch. So, imagine this, my son is in pain because of gout and he is getting slammed for hours by Dutch interrogators.
These are the facts, as I just got back from seeing Theo in Bonaire. When I asked Theo “how the Dutch treating him” he said, “Boy, Mommy, they bad … they bad … they question for hours and hours … they even ask questions about Pa (his grandfather) … just like how you see it in the movies, that’s how they question you … rough, not letting up and attacking.”
After hours of pressuring my son they ask him to sign the interrogation statement in Dutch. They made him sign when he tired and in pain from gout. He even catch them writing a statement he did not make. This is another manipulative tactic; Dutch is not his first language.
The question they tried to trick him with had to do with his grandfather (my father). Theo told them “how they kill his grandfather and they’re still not satisfied.” They persecuted my father, my brother and now my son.
As a mother, everyone can relate to my pain. My son was ripped away without notice to his family or lawyer. He is in pain and away from his familiar surroundings. God forbid something had happened to my son on the way to Bonaire and I would never see him again.
After hearing how they interrogate Theo and the tactics of moving him to Bonaire and “forgetting” his medication, you have to believe it is all part of their plan. Even as I write this, I was just informed that Theo now has a fever and his gout has flared up again.
Thank you Stuart, Frankie, Luc, Rolando, Sarah and Christopher, for showing courage by taking a stand for my son. You are true St. Maarteners. The fact that Rolando and Christopher put aside political differences to make a stand gives me hope.
We now have a court verdict to bring Theo to Pointe Blanche, so just like the order to send Theo to Bonaire came from our St. Maarten Government, now let’s see how long it will take to bring him back.
I want my son returned to St. Maarten!
Lillian Agnes Wathey
