Text 8715, 92 rader
Skriven 2010-06-17 09:45:41 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
     Kommentar till en text av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
Ärende: Important message from the moderator
============================================
Hello Janis,

On Tuesday June 15 2010 01:25, you wrote to me:

 >> Maybe you can help me there becuase I do not understand the
 >> extortion part. when i look up "extortion" in my dictionary I see
 >> that it translates into "afpersing". But afpersing involves some kind
 >> of threat. Like "pay me or I wil kill your cat". Wher is the threat?
 >> As I understand it, JS offered to sell information. That is not a
 >> crime, at least not in Aruba and according to Roy Witt, not in the US.

 JK> Extortion in this case was van der Sloot telling Mrs. Twitty that he
 JK> would not give information of value to Mrs. Twitty unless a sum of
 JK> money was paid.

So it is all right to offer information for sale but it is not ok to refuse to
give the information unless paid. Weird...

 >> All that Bett Twitty or her attorny had to say was "no thanks" and
 >> that would have ended the matter.

 JK> He contacted her and said he had information about the whereabouts of
 JK> her daughter's remains.. but she had to pay him to get it. That is
 JK> extortion in this country.

Well, I am pretty sure it is not extortion under Dutch law. The handover of the
money took place in Aruba, so Aruban law (-Dutch law) applies. Plus that it was
secretly recorded and that is illegal under Dutch law. If JS ever sets foot on
Aruban soil again, he will not be extradited to the US for extortion.

Don't het me wrong. I think it is despicable to do this to Beth Twitty. The man
will do anything to get money. But I see no crime here.

 >> Plus of course there is the dubious circumstance that the handing
 >> over of the money took place in Aruba and it was secretly recorded.
 >> Secretly recording people is illegal under Dutch law, and therefore
 >> also under Aruban law.

 JK> I think you have to look at it from Mrs. Twitty's side of things.
 JK> She'd like to know what happened to her daughter and this punk
 JK> contacts her taunting her with supposed information.. so she hands it
 JK> over to the authorities here.. I can understand that.

That I can understand too. The authorities should have told her that it would
not lead anywhere and that paying JS would be a waste of money.

 JK> I don't know that anything was recorded secretly but it may have
 JK> been.

That was what was reporetd in the news here.

 JK> Again, I'm no expert in foreign law and what they could have or
 JK> could not have done.  And it really doesn't matter <g>

The matter of secretly recording was extensively discussed here by lawyers
after the famous "de Vries tapes". The consensus was that it is illegal and any
evidence obtained that way is inadmissible in court.

 >> The conversation was secretly recorded and JS thought he was talking
 >> to Beth Twitty's attorney, not to an undercover FBI agent.

 JK> It was very naive of Joran to not suspect that criminal investative
 JK> teams would have been involved at that point.

It was naive of whoever furnished the money that it would uncover the truth.

 >> If JS were to aproach me to sell me information I would indeed ignore
 >> it. What would I have to gain? The information would probably be
 >> useless anyway, The man is a pathological lyer. I would treat such an
 >> offer the semae as "bridge for sale".

 JK> Still, she may have thought there was a chance.

That was her decision.

 >> It is anyone's guess. My guess is that he will be convicted anyway.
 >> The powers that be have already decided that he is guilty and so he
 >> will be convicted.

 JK> I think it is hard to say he is innocent with Stephanie's blood on his
 JK> clothes.

Sure, it does not look good for him. All the evidence points in his direction.
he still deserves a fair trial. Everyone deserves a fair trial. It does not
look he will get it. His Peruvian lawyer has stepped down because he was
threatened with death. How can one expect a fair trial under those conditions?


Cheers, Michiel

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