On May 5, 2013, the most popular Curaçao politician at the time, Helmin Wiels, was shot dead in broad daylight on the beach near Willemstad. Natasja Gibbs was a correspondent in Curaçao at that time. Eleven years later, she believes it is time to look for answers to questions that still exist. Because three people were convicted for the case at the time, the shooter, a murder broker and the person who ordered the murder, a former minister, but many people still think that the case has not been solved. Why did Wiels have to die, they still wonder, and why do many people still dare not talk about the murder?
Gibbs speaks in the Netherlands and on Curaçao with those involved and relatives, including Wiels’ son, Helmin Junior (who talks in riddles) and Wiels’ brother Aubert – he must have all the answers, according to Junior. Gibbs even manages to interview the client, ex-minister George Jamaloodin, in prison.
Why?
We get a good idea of the enormous impact that the murder must have had, and still has, on the residents of a small island and we get to know the radical politician Wiels, who had many friends, but also many enemies.
After a journey of six episodes, Junior and Aubert Wiels (who was friends with the ex-minister, they grew up in the poor Steenrijk neighborhood, where friends are brothers) have no choice but to conclude that they have to accept the truth. But why, why that murder?
The podcast is not about uncovering new facts, but about facing and processing the inevitable, harsh reality.
To share
Email the editor
