Aruba: Situation Normal...

Joran Van Der Sloot, Satish Kalpoe, and Deepak Kalpoe were charged with Natalee Holloway's murder.

Over three weeks ago.

No, they haven't been charged yet.

Maybe on Monday.

What a despicable mess!

About two hours ago, the Associated Press QUOTED Aruba's Attorney General Karin/Caren Janssen. (Have you noticed AP can't decide how to spell her name?)

Now, there has been a retraction. AP is pointing out they did not get the story wrong, most likely wanting to make it known they didn't fabricate the original report as so many in the MSM do these days. The Attorney General did. Well, she didn't get it wrong either, according to government spokesman, Ruben Trapenberg. He chalks the confusion up to semantics.

ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- Aruba's chief government spokesman said Friday that three young men detained in the disappearance of an Alabama teenager have not been formally charged but could be as soon as Monday.

Earlier, Aruba's attorney general, Karin Janssen, told The Associated Press that the young men had been charged with murder since their arrest three weeks ago.

"The three have been charged with the murder of Natalee Holloway from the beginning" of their arrest 10 days after the young woman went missing May 30, she said in a recorded interview. "At the time, we didn't want to upset the family talking about murder while they searched."

The attorney general and other Aruban officials have said for weeks that no one has been charged in the 18-year-old's disappearance. Janssen said authorities also withheld information about the charges in order not to compromise their investigation. Authorities have said they have no physical evidence suggesting Holloway is dead.

The government spokesman, Ruben Trapenberg, contacted the AP following the English-language interview with Janssen.

"This is a question of semantics. It's been a problem since Day One," Trapenberg said. "The charging is a formal process that happens later on. It could happen as soon as Monday."

I HEARD the interview. This is NOT a question of semantics. She said they didn't want to upset the family so they did not make the charges public. I HEARD HER. Her explanation reveals this is not a semantics issue.

This is just another example of the Aruban government trying to cover up the way they've bungled the case. It's just another excuse.

Trapenberg did not clarify what charges could be filed against the three. They had been scheduled to go before a judge Monday to learn whether their detentions would be extended another 60 days. Under Dutch law that governs Aruba, a protectorate of the Netherlands, detainees can be held 116 days before being charged by a judge.

Janssen said 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot and two Surinamese brothers who are his friends have been charged since their arrest June 9 _ 10 days after Holloway disappeared.

All court hearings in the case have been closed to the public.

Police have been criticized for letting more than a week go by without detaining the three young men last seen with Holloway and for waiting 16 days after she went missing before searching van der Sloot's home.

"The stupidest thing to do is run and arrest them because an hour later they will go free and you have nothing," Janssen told the AP.

When asked if the young men would have had time to destroy evidence, Janssen acknowledged the possibility but said "it didn't happen in this case."

She said the prosecution was centering its case around e-mail and cell phone text messages written between the suspects the night Holloway disappeared. Janssen declined to offer further details about the messages, but said not having a body would make getting a murder conviction "more difficult but not impossible."

I feel so sorry for Natalee's family. The Aruban authorities have compounded the pain of this nightmare.

It's absolutely inexcusable.

Boycott Aruba.