PHILIPSBURG–The wife of suspended member of Parliament Theodore Heyliger is at ease now that she received her husband’s passport on Monday afternoon. The Prosecutor took custody of the document as one of the conditions of Heyliger’s release from pre-trial detention last month.
Grisha Heyliger-Marten stated on Monday evening that she had been prepared to visit the Prosecutor’s Office every hour on the hour until the passport was released, giving her husband the possibility of applying for a medical visa for the United States. He must apply for a visa because his electronic system for travel authorisation ESTA was revoked.
Heyliger wants to travel to Boston, Massachusetts, to seek medical care for his stage-one kidney cancer. He and his wife were scheduled to do so this past weekend. The trip was cancelled when his passport was not released.
While the Prosecutor’s Office had declined to comment on the case on Sunday, Anti-Corruption Taskforce TBO team leader Jeroen Kuipers issued a statement early on Monday after the broad media coverage of the Heyliger-Marten’s allegations.
“The Anti-Corruption Taskforce TBO has taken note of comments regarding Mr. Heyliger. More specifically, some alleged that TBO is frustrating Mr. Heyliger’s attempts to travel to the US for medical treatment, and even that TBO is responsible for revoking Mr. Heyliger’s ESTA visa waiver. Those suggestions are not true. They are false,” stated Kuipers.
“TBO doesn’t run the ESTA waiver programme; that is the sole competence of the US. The US government’s decision to revoke Mr. Heyliger’s ESTA is not for TBO to comment on, so we will not.
“TBO will, of course, not prevent Mr. Heyliger, or any other suspect, from travelling to another country if medical treatment is necessary. In accordance with and in order to be able to execute the Court’s decision, however, we do need a specific and concrete request that contains necessary details such as an admission date in a medical facility and proof of allowed travel.
“That information has thus far not been provided fully, and Mr. Heyliger’s lawyer has been informed about that as early as Wednesday, June 12. We therefore still wait for the necessary details to be able to release Mr. Heyliger’s passport for the purpose of medical treatment.
“No further comments will be made at this time,” he concluded.
Heyliger’s wife was quick to respond, pointing out all necessary documents to allow for the release of the passport had been submitted. “We sent them everything over a week ago: where he was going, how long, which hospital and even the doctor and the appointment date. Nothing was left out,” she said.
She received the passport early afternoon. Heyliger-Marten thanked everyone for their prayers and support in this passport ordeal. “Now, my focus is getting his health back on track, and save the legal battle for after,” she said.
To the just-under-two-dozen people who showed up to support her at the Prosecutor’s Office, Heyliger-Marten said, “I want to thank each and every one of them for standing with me at this crucial time. We need to stand together against injustice.”
Bron: Daily Herald