PHILIPSBURG—The Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten, and of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba has rejected a request by Member of Parliament Ardwell Irion to suspend enforcement of a lower court ruling ordering him to publish a rectification for statements made about attorney Jairo Bloem. The decision was delivered on Tuesday.
Irion filed an appeal on October 17, 2025, contesting the October 16 judgment of the Court of First Instance, which found portions of his public remarks about Bloem to be unlawful and ordered him to issue a correction under penalty of a fine. Three days later, Irion’s lawyer Mr. Zylena Bary submitted a separate request asking the Joint Court to halt enforcement of the ruling until the appeal is decided on.
Bloem opposed the request, submitting his response on October 28. A dispute arose after some of Bloem’s supporting documents were provided via WeTransfer on October 29. The Court ruled the files admissible, noting that Bloem sent his response on time and that the documents were transmitted separately only because they were too large to email. Irion, the Court stressed, had adequate opportunity to review them.
The underlying case centers on statements Irion made following a radio interview in which Bloem confirmed that the Minister of Finance had approached him to consider candidacy for the position of Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten.
Irion later commented publicly—on radio and in an interview with The People’s Tribune—that Bloem had a “troubling track record,” referencing concerns about legal fees billed to GEBE, and claimed Bloem had visited him “with a savior attitude,” intent on “saving the Central Bank.
Bloem, represented by attorney Mr. Lysandra Peterson, argued that these remarks were false, damaging, and defamatory. He sought a rectification and an order preventing similar future statements.
The Court found that Irion’s references to concerns raised within GEBE about legal fees—including a March 2021 internal memo describing them as “exorbitant”—were supported by documentation. However, the broader comments about Bloem’s motives and character were deemed unsubstantiated and unnecessarily disparaging.
Even if Mr. Bloem presented himself as a capable candidate, it was inappropriate for Mr. Irion to depict him as ‘desperate’ or driven by self-promotion,” the Court stated. “Such language goes beyond policy critique and unfairly targets the individual.”
The judge emphasized that while MPs may criticize government decisions, they must do so with “accuracy, fairness, and respect for personal reputation,” adding that personal attacks “do not fall within the core duties of a parliamentarian.”
Consequently, the Court partially upheld Bloem’s claim and ordered Irion to publish a rectification within 48 hours on The People’s Tribune page, where his original remarks appeared. The statement must clarify that Irion wrongly suggested Bloem admitted to submitting excessive invoices to GEBE and wrongly portrayed him as a desperate, self-promoting candidate for the Central Bank role. Failure to comply will result in a penalty of US $1,000 per day, up to a maximum of US $50,000.
In reviewing Irion’s request to suspend enforcement, the Joint Court applied established Supreme Court criteria and found no “manifest error” in the lower court’s decision. It further ruled that Irion had not shown that immediate enforcement would cause irreparable reputational harm.
The request for suspension was therefore denied, and Irion was ordered to pay Bloem’s legal costs, set at NAf 2,000.
The decision was delivered in open court in Aruba on November 18.
https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/court-rejects-mp-ardwell-irion-s-request-to-suspend-enforcement-of-defamation-ruling
