Curacao Governor Lucille George-Wuth and Prime Minister Gilmar Pizas have been named in a lawsuit over the government’s decision to issue gambling licenses last fall.
The lawsuit was filed in the Curacao Court of First Instance on November 10 by journalist and chairwoman of the Foundation for Representation of Victims of Online Gambling (SBGOK) Nardi Kramm. It seeks to force the government to provide documents related to the gambling license.
It also challenges whether Finance Minister Javier Silvania had the legal authority to begin issuing online gambling licenses in November 2023.
Kramm argues that the lawsuit was filed because only the governor has the authority to issue these licenses under current law.
“This case concerns the refusal of various Curacao administrative authorities to provide Nardi Linda Kramm, a Dutch blogger, with information regarding the legal powers and responsibilities of the Curacao Governor with respect to the development of offshore internet gambling legislation and regulations and the issuance and revocation of offshore internet gambling licenses, to which she is legally entitled,” the lawsuit states.
Kramm’s lawsuit alleges that government agencies have repeatedly used bureaucratic tactics to prevent her from accessing public information.
These include misdirecting her request, extending response times, and ultimately refusing to provide the requested documents.
The lawsuit follows criminal charges brought against the minister and several individuals associated with the reform process last week by an opposition politician.
The charges, filed with the country’s Attorney General’s Office, concerned the integrity of the licensing process, which the country’s gambling regulator has vehemently denied.
Cramm filed a formal request for information on February 25, 2024, asking for full documentation of gambling licenses and related government records.
The request specifically asked for five categories of documents, including copies of gambling licenses, a list of license holders, documents related to licensing permits, zero measurement reports, and research estimates of the gambling sector from 2000 to the present.
The administration incorrectly forwarded the request to the Minister of Finance, who then extended the response deadline and ultimately refused to provide the information.
On May 14, 2024, Sylvania rejected the request, stating that the Government Information (Public Access) Regulation did not apply to non-residents of Curacao.
Cramm claimed that this refusal violated her rights under the Statute of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, local law, and the European Convention on Human Rights.
She argued the information was crucial to establishing the truth about how gambling licences are issued, renewed and revoked.
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