Willemstad- On 20 December, 2018, Wladimir Alberto died after a traffic accident at the Julianaburg. After that accident, the personal Facebook account of Norman Serphos, press officer of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM), responded inappropriately to the death of Alberto.

On the same day, Serphos indicated that he had not placed that reaction himself. That his Facebook account had to be hacked and that third parties had placed the reaction under his name.

Serphos then filed a report with the police of hacking his Facebook account. However, shortly before the turn of the year it became clear that Serphos had placed the reaction itself 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.

Employees expected to be honest

As an employer, the Public Prosecutor’s Office supports its employees if they are wronged and this seems to be the case here in the first instance. High demands are placed on the employees of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, daily work is constantly under pressure and, unfortunately, their person is also sometimes infringed. On the other hand, employees are expected to be honest, transparent and honest. Unfortunately, this has not happened here. According to a press release sent out by the Prosecutor’s Office in Willemstad this afternoon, today Serphos has been denied access to the buildings and systems of the Public Prosecutor’s Office by the Attorney General and has indicated that the Public Prosecution Service will request his dismissal from the Minister of Justice and the Governor.

Criminal investigation

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 itself, 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.