To avoid new disappointment, Gert Kuiper did not travel to El Salvador this time for the court case about his murdered brother. Journalist Jan Kuiper from Assen was shot dead in 1982 together with three other Ikon journalists. At the end of April, three suspects would come to court after more than forty years, but the case was postponed at the last minute. Tomorrow the case is again on the role.
Jan Kuiper ended up in an ambush in 1982 with Koos Koster, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemsen from a special military unit in El Salvador and all four did not survive this. The truth never came on the table, but in 2021 suddenly hoped for the relatives. Justice in El Salvador then decided to bring the case to court. That would happen April 22, but ran a disappointment for the brother of the murdered journalist Kuiper.
Gert Kuiper had traveled to El Salvador with two other Dutch relatives to attend the process. Once there it became clear that the case could not take place due to a medical intervention of the lawyer of one of the suspects, ex-colonel Mario Reyes Mena. He would have given the order for the massacre.
The army leader and the commander of the unit responsible for the ambush, according to El Salvadoran media no longer live. The suspects who must now occur are former colonel Mario Reyes Mena and former police chief, Francisco Antonio Morán. In addition to them, former Minister of Defense José Guillermo Garcia must also account.
The fact that the case did not take place in April was, according to Gert Kuiper, the result of a legal trick that is more often extracted in heavier things related to the civil war, just to prevent people from being punished. “The lawyer seems to have deliberately submitted the request for deferment during a holiday period. As a result, the judge could only read the letter. While the lawyer had known for a long time when she had to go under the knife,” Kuiper explains.
Soon 3 June was chosen as the new date. But Gert Kuiper is not there in El Salvador. He has no high expectations with tomorrow and fears that the lawsuit will be postponed again. “I suspect that the weather is not going on. The question is whether the lawyer has recovered sufficiently. She has undergone a uterine surgery and that is not a small intervention. Moreover, it is an older woman and then the recovery will also take longer.”
Another uncertain factor is the jury. “Twelve people have been written, of which at least five have to appear,” says Kuiper. “You don’t know what kind of people are, they are actually completely randomly chosen. The last time six people turned out to live in the United States and one was even in prison. That is very amateurish, but unfortunately the practice in El Salvador.”
Kuiper has therefore left his feelings and has decided not to travel to the country in Central America. “Perhaps I am very mistaken, but I really think it will not go ahead. Then such a journey will cost unnecessary energy and money. Many things there are postponed three to four times. If the case is postponed again, I want to go to El Salvador next time. Three times then ship law.”
From the Netherlands, Kuiper cannot follow the lawsuit closely. “There is no live stream or something like that. It is a very small courtroom, where there is room for ten visitors. I have app contact with our lawyer and the ambassador. Tomorrow halfway through the afternoon will be clear whether the case will continue or not.”