MP Meyers rejects claims he is trying to keep Theo Heyliger in prison

GREAT BAY--Member of Parliament Franklin Meyers has publicly and categorically rejected claims that he has attempted to influence whether Theo Heyliger remains incarcerated, saying he has never contacted anyone, participated in discussions or expressed a position that Heyliger should remain in prison.

Meyers addressed the issue during the 2026 budget debate, explaining that he normally does not respond to allegations he knows he had nothing to do with. However, he said his silence had allowed the claim surrounding Heyliger to begin taking on “a life of its own,” prompting him to put his position formally on the parliamentary record.

“At no time, past, present, or do I intend to in the future, have I ever called anyone or have ever said that Theodore Emmanuel should remain in jail,” Meyers told Parliament.

He said his position was not limited to Heyliger and stressed that he had not sought to influence the incarceration or release of other individuals either.

Meyers said he wanted the people of St. Maarten to understand clearly that decisions concerning Heyliger’s detention have never been matters in which he has attempted to involve himself.

“I am making it abundantly and emphatically clear, I have never had a discussion where it pertains to the incarceration of Mr. Theo, in regards to him staying in jail,” Meyers said.

He added: “That does not concern me. It does not concern me.”

Meyers said the allegation began circulating around the time the Soualiga Action Movement, SAM, joined the governing coalition and was allocated responsibility for the Ministry of Justice.

According to Meyers, within approximately two weeks of SAM receiving Justice, he encountered someone who told him that people were already saying that because his political group now had responsibility for the ministry, Heyliger would not be allowed to leave prison.

Meyers pointed out that this occurred before Nathalie Tackling had even been appointed Minister of Justice, which he said demonstrated that the narrative had begun developing before his party had taken any substantive action through the ministry.

“When SAM joined the coalition and we were offered the Ministry of Justice, I took the Ministry of Justice, and two weeks after I ran into someone and that person said, ‘They said that now that you have Justice, you are not going to let Theo go,’” Meyers recalled.

He said the rumor therefore did not arise from any action he had taken concerning Heyliger, but nevertheless continued circulating until he felt compelled to address it publicly.

Meyers also turned to the political history surrounding Heyliger and recalled events from August 29, 2018, when a march and protest took place involving calls connected to the legal proceedings surrounding Heyliger.

He recalled demonstrators moving from the Government Administration Building to Parliament, where a protest letter was delivered, before continuing through Front Street.

Meyers argued that some people who were among those publicly critical of Heyliger at the time are now involved in suggesting that he is attempting to use political influence to keep Heyliger incarcerated.

He said the historical record, including articles and information still available online, would show the positions people publicly took at that time.

Meyers nevertheless said he did not intend to spend his parliamentary time revisiting every past statement or identifying individuals, because doing so would serve little purpose.

Instead, he said his objective was simply to establish his own position clearly and remove any suggestion that he has been involved in decisions surrounding Heyliger’s continued detention.

“Who wants to believe what they want to believe, that is on them,” Meyers said, while emphasizing that he had now publicly stated the facts as they relate to his own conduct.

His comments came amid wider questions raised during the budget debate concerning prison capacity, early release, electronic monitoring and the respective roles of the Minister of Justice and Prosecutor’s Office in decisions affecting inmates.

Meyers, however, separated himself from any suggestion that he had personally sought to influence those processes in Heyliger’s case.

He said his responsibility as an MP is to question ministers and hold the executive branch accountable, including ministers supported by his own coalition. Meyers rejected the idea that questioning government means coalition MPs are acting against the administration, saying all 15 MPs were elected by the people of St. Maarten and have an obligation to carry out Parliament’s oversight role.

That same principle, he indicated, applies to Justice matters. His role as a political figure and member of the governing coalition, he said, should not be interpreted as evidence that he is privately directing decisions about individual prisoners.

Meyers said he does not intend to repeatedly respond to the claim concerning Heyliger and wanted his remarks during the budget debate to serve as his definitive statement.

“I’m not going to address this issue again,” he said.

Meyers ultimately maintained that he has never asked anyone to keep Heyliger incarcerated, never participated in discussions aimed at extending his incarceration and does not consider decisions surrounding Heyliger’s detention to be his personal concern.

‍