Suriname police search former president’s home

PARAMARIBO, Suriname (CMC) – Police in Suriname have remained mum on media reports that they raided the home of former President Desi Bouterse, who earlier this year was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder.

According to media reports, police searched the homes of Bouterse and Iwan Dijksteel, also on the run after both were charged with the December 8, 1982 murder of 15 men, including journalists, military officers, union leaders, lawyers, businessmen and university professors. Dijksteel, who was Bouterse’s bodyguard, was jailed for 15 years.

The prosecution had claimed that the men were arrested on the nights of December 7 and 8 and transferred to Fort Zeelandia, then the headquarters of the Surinamese National Army. They said the men were tortured and summarily executed.

Bouterse, who was not present when the Court of Justice delivered the judgment in December last year, appealed against his conviction handed down in August 2021, when the Suriname court martial upheld the military court’s decision of 2019 with a sentence of 20 years. -a prison sentence following a trial which lasted for several years.

In 2017, Bouterse and 23 co-defendants appeared before the military court after the Court of Justice rejected a request to stop the trial.

Media reports said the raids were being carried out as part of Operation Christmas Bread and that it is unclear whether the raids were based on specific “intelligence information” given that none of the men was not at home.

Suriname police have not issued any statements regarding the raids.

Bouterse was placed on an International Police Red Notice (INTERPOL) list, which is a formal request to law enforcement authorities around the world to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition, its surrender or similar legal action. It is based on an arrest or a judicial decision issued by the judicial authorities of the requesting country.

The lawyer for the relatives of the 15 people killed on December 8, 1982 has since called on the government to offer a reward leading to Bouterse’s arrest.

In his open letter to President Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi, lawyer Hugo Essed said he requested that everything be done to ensure that all those found guilty of this crime are captured and imprisoned in accordance with the court’s decision.

Bouterse, 79, a former military officer, served as president from 2010 to 2020. But from 1980 to 1987, he was Suriname’s de facto ruler after leading a military coup and establishing a period of military rule.