Arrests
reportedly made in St. Martin gay bashing

Reports coming out of St. Martin on Tuesday claimed that police had arrested two suspects believed to have participated in the beating of CBS News journalist Richard Jefferson and his friend Ryan Smith on April 6, according to The Daily Herald, a St. Martin newspaper. St. Martin chief prosecutor Taco Stein would neither confirm nor deny the reports.

According to the Herald, reports that two men had been arrested on Thursday began coming in on Friday night. Dutch press agency ANP reported over the weekend that two arrests had been made at Bamboo Bernie's and that a third suspect, apparently the main suspect, was still at large. "I say to you as I said to all other reporters, I cannot deny nor confirm the arrests," Stein told the Herald on Monday. He said the investigation was "very touchy" and "delicate" and that he would give a statement "as soon as this is possible."

According to the ANP report, the two suspects are from French St. Martin and were held on Thursday evening when the police were conducting an investigation at Bamboo Bernie's. They both showed up at the bar and were immediately arrested. The report also mentioned that all of the suspects originated from the French side of the island. Stein was quoted saying that the fact that the island "is divided in two territories makes it sometimes more difficult to conduct certain investigations."

Stein and Jefferson held a press conference at the VIP room of Princess Juliana International Airport on Jefferson's return to the island on Friday, April 14. During that press conference Jefferson said Smith was still hospitalized and unable to speak properly. He assured reporters that while he might simply have been beaten by the suspects because they felt like doing so, Smith was certainly a victim of "gay bashing." (The Advocate)