Benard Komproe (22 October 1942 – 11 October 2004) was a Curaçaoan politician who briefly served as the 24th

prime minister of the Netherlands Antilles Below is a list of prime ministers of the Netherlands Antilles from 1951 to 2010. In 2010 the position of Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles was abolished, together with the Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, dissolution of the cou ...

from 22 July 2003 to 11 August 2003. Komproe was a member of the local party Frente Obrero Liberashon 30 di Mei (FOL), and was fifth on the ballot for the

2003 Curaçao general election 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

. When party leader Anthony Godett was blocked from being appointed ''formateur'' pending a police investigation, Komproe was appointed instead. Komproe was named Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles from 22 July until 11 August 2003. After that, he was replaced by Mirna Louisa-Godett, and became Minister of Justice. As Minister of Justice, Komproe attempted to order the local authorities to cease investigations into his brother Hedwig Komproe. Additionally, he tried to have the Attorney General fired. when it became known that he violated his oath of office, the

Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles The Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles (; ), also translated as the Estates of the Netherlands Antilles, was the parliament of the Netherlands Antilles. It comprised 22 members, elected for a four-year term in three multi-seat constituencies a ...

forced Komproe to resign, leading to the fall of the Godett Cabinet. After his resignation, a judicial investigation was started on Komproe's tenure as minister. The investigation included what went on at an open-air brothel Campo Alegre. Komproe was alleged to have given out signed letters, basically to allow dozens of

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

s from

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

to reside on

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

. He was said to have plans to process each prostitute's permit of residence personally, and to have ordered a special stamp just for this purpose. In July 2004, a judge determined that Komproe was not authorized to issue letters of that nature. Additionally, Komproe did favors for Giovanni van Ierland, the incarcerated owner of the brothel. In September 2004, Komproe was to be on the Curaçao Island Council for the FOL. However, he was arrested on 6 September 2004, and charged with

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

, and being member of a criminal organisation. On 24 September his imprisonment was delayed, followings complications from an abdominal operation he underwent a few days earlier. He never regained consciousness and died at the age of 62.

References

External links

Frente Obrero Liberashon (FOL)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Komproe, Ben 1942 births 2004 deaths Prime ministers of the Netherlands Antilles Government ministers of the Netherlands Antilles Party Workers' Liberation Front 30 May politicians Heads of government who were later imprisoned