Former Curacao prime minister could get three years in prison

The Public Prosecutor on Curuacao demanded a three-year prison sentence against former Curacao prime minister Gerrit Schotte on Wednesday afternoon, local time. The Prosecutor also wants Schotte's election rights suspended for five years, which would mean that he can not take part as leader of his political party MFF in the upcoming parliamentary elections on September 30th, news wire ANP reports. Schotte stands accused of official corruption, forgery and money laundering, among other things. He was Prime Minister of Curacao between 2010 and 2012. According to the Prosecutor, during this time Schotte accepted money from casino owner Francesco Corallo and thereby became his puppet. Corallo, who lives on Curacao, is linked to the Italian mafia. Schotte's life partner Cicely van der Dijs was also in court on Wednesday. The prosecutor suspects her of being involved in forgery and demanded 18 months in prison, 9 of which conditionally suspended, against her. Both Schote and Van der Dijs remained silent during the hearing. Later on Wednesday, Schotte accused the Netherlands of being behind this case. On social media he stated that the Netherlands spent millions on the investigation against him in order to influence the composition of Curacao's new government.