WILLEMSTAD - The now former minister of Justice in Curaçao says that "he never gave permission" to record police activities for a documentary that was aired by the Dutch TV channel RTL5. Former Minister Quincy Girigorie is responding to the commotion surrounding an episode of the program Ewout by program producer Ewout Genemans in which the crime on the island is highlighted. Girigorie generally calls Dutch media "hypocritical" in their coverage of Curaçao.

Genemans filmed actions by police officers in May of this year. The Criminal Side Of Paradise Curaçao, as the relevant episode of Genemans' program Ewout is called, was broadcast on Monday evening and contains images of police actions on the island. According to the Curaçao police, the documentary was made under other pretexts and Genemans promised to show the documentary to the police before broadcasting. According to the police, that did not happen.

"If RTL had asked me for permission, I would have said to film the crime in the port of Rotterdam." Girigorie calls that port the transit port for drugs in Europe. He also calls the Netherlands the largest producer of XTC and the largest cocaine importer in Europe. According to Girigorie, the 'Dutch media should therefore stop pointing hypocritically to Curaçao in order to hide their own mess'.

Currently, the police of Curaçao is looking at whether legal action can be taken against the TV producer. Genemans has announced that he will contact the police in Curaçao.