Former Member of Parliament Silvio Matser (left) making a phone call after Wednesday’s Court hearing.
PHILIPSBURG–Former Member of Parliament (MP) Silvio Matser (51) was convicted in absentia by the Court of First Instance in February to a prison sentence of eight months, two of which were suspended, on two years’ probation, as he was found guilty of buying votes among eligible inmates of the Pointe Blanche prison while campaigning for the August 2014 parliamentary election. He was also banned from running as a candidate for five years.
Defendants have the right to be present at their hearings, and as Matser had been absent during all four hearings in the case which led to his conviction earlier this year, he was entitled to a re-trial.
The former candidate on the United People’s (UP) party slate made his first appearance in this case on Wednesday, during which he denied the allegations, and the Prosecutor called for a prison sentence of two years and a five-year ban from passive suffrage.
The Prosecutor’s Office not only considered vote buying proven in the so-called “Octopus” investigation, which involves 20 suspects in total, but also that Matser was a leader in a criminal organisation consisting of his campaign team members.
According to the prosecutor, Matser had obtained a list of 80 eligible detainees from Pointe Blanche prison Interim Director Edward Rohan. However, Matser denied he had ever received such a list from his close friend.
He also denied he had an election campaign team for the 2014 election that primarily consisted of inmates who had recruited votes among the prison population. In exchange, those voting for Matser received US $100 in canteen money, the prosecutor claimed. However, Matser told the Judge he had never made any payments.
Under the new electoral law, which came into effect in 2015, electoral bribery carries a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment, which was equal to the Prosecutor’s demand in Matser’s case.
Investigations into the results of the 2014 election revealed that UP leader Theo Heyliger was the biggest vote-getter of his party in 19 of the 20 voting districts, except in district #19 – the Pointe Blanche prison – where Matser attained the highest number of preferential votes.
Wednesday’s hearing was largely a repetition of previous hearings. The Prosecutor said yesterday that he hoped this would be the last time a vote-buying case would be the subject in a criminal organisation, “because St. Maarten and its residents deserve better.”
“Unfortunately, vote buying and ‘ship jumping’ are almost inextricably linked to the elections in the most recent history of St. Maarten,” the Prosecutor said in his closing speech. “If we allow vote buying to take place, we allow persons with financial means to actually buy their seat in Parliament. Vote buying has been a crime in St. Maarten for years.”
Speaking on Matser’s behalf, attorney-at-law Cor Merx extensively pleaded for his client’s full acquittal for lack of evidence. Merx said the Court’s arguments to acquit his client of membership in a criminal organisation in its February verdict were “absolutely correct.”
The lawyer also called on the Court to throw out the case against his client altogether, because Matser’s rights to a fair trial had been severely violated during the initial stages of the investigation, including during a house search.
Matser said in his final word that he has confidence in the Court and that he is hopeful that the Judge will look into all aspects of his case.
Matser was sentenced by the Court for tax crimes in January 2015. That case is pending with the High Court of the Netherlands for a final appeal, his lawyer said.
The former politician told the Judge his penal cases made him sleepless. He said he had closed his construction business after Hurricane Irma and is now seeking a job as a construction supervisor. As a former MP, he receives reduced pay (“Wachtgeld”).
Matser said he is no longer a member of UP or associated with any other party and is not considering a return to politics. “I’m done with politics,” he said.
The Court will give its decision in his case, and in those of three co-suspects (see related story), on Wednesday, September 26.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/80339-matser-pleads-innocence-in-2014-vote-buying-case
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