WILLEMSTAD - On 20 December Wladimir Alberto died after a traffic accident on the Juliana Bridge. After that accident, the personal Facebook account of Norman Serphos, press officer of the Public Prosecution Service (OM), reacted inappropriately to the death of Alberto.
On the same day, Serphos indicated that he had not placed that reaction himself. That his Facebook was hacked and that third parties had placed the reaction under his name.
Serphos then filed a complaint with the police citing that someone had hacked his Facebook account. However, shortly before the turn of the year, it became clear that Serphos had placed the reaction himself on the Facebook page of Alberto. The Public Prosecutor regrets the course of events to a large extent, for the relatives of Alberto, but also because of the resulting commotion in society.
As an employer, the Public Prosecution Service supports its employees if they are wronged and this seemed to be the case here in the first instance. High demands are placed on the employees of the Public Prosecution Service, daily work is constantly under pressure and, unfortunately, their personal life is also sometimes infringed. On the other hand, employees are expected to be honest and transparent. Unfortunately, this has not happened here. Today Serphos has been denied access to the buildings and systems of the Public Prosecution Service by the Attorney General (PG). The PG has indicated that the Public Prosecution Service will request his dismissal from the Minister of Justice and the Governor.
In the coming period, the criminal investigation into the behavior of Serphos will be completed, which will be assessed by the Public Prosecution Service in Aruba.
The relatives of Wladimir Alberto also filed a complaint against Serphos. On December 28, 2018, when it was not known that Serphos had posted the message himself, a conversation with the chief officer of Curaçao took place on 28 December 2018. In the short term, this complaint will be assessed, and the conclusion will be shared with the next of kin.
From now on the information from the Public Prosecution Service is done by Roderick Gouverneur.
Photo: Attorney General Roger Bos
