2020
Caribbean Life, D 12 ecember 11-17, 2020
SEDITION CHARGES LIKELY
probe that would most likely lead to
a fresh round of charges against the
former president and coup-making ex
rebel army sergeant who first turned
the country upside down when he and
other non commissioned officers had
staged the coup 40 years ago.
“The remarks are against the rule
of law, against the nation. I have asked
the prosecutor general to judge whether
the verdicts are punishable and that
he is taking steps based on his judgment
as prosecutor general. The police
have been ordered to investigate,” said
Santokhi, ironically on the very same
day that the Dec. 8 murders were commemorated.
Now that he is no longer president
and commander in chief, Desi Bouterse
faces the real prospect of being ordered
to jail to begin serving a 20 year sentence
a court imposed on him a year
ago for the mass murders. He has since
filed an appeal and had turned up at the
court recently to read a lengthy statement
denying ordering the killings,
blaming The Netherlands for influencing
the court and the investigation and
authorities for not calling witnesses
who could have favorably testified for
him.
In what can also be deemed as a
very bad 10 days for Bouterse and the
NDP, cabinet is set to soon abolish Feb.
25 — the date of the first coup — as a
national holiday as Bouterse faces the
possibility of jail and sedition charges.
In general elections held in May, his
NDP dropped from 26 to 16 seats, paving
the way for Santokhi’s coalition to
win power. Other parties with parliamentary
seats had refused to team up
with the NDP based on its track record
with other parties which had coalesced
with it, casting the NDP to the opposition
benches and setting the stage for
some of the problems it faces today.
If those problems are not enough,
police had rounded up, arrested and
detained former vice president Adhin
Ashwin for more than a week for allegedly
disposing up some multimedia
equipment belonging to the VP’s office.
Ashwin has vowed to fight to the bitter
end.
Continued from Page 1
COVID task force for equality
“This information will be fact-based
and reliable,” she said. “It is imperative
that the Black community and other
communities of color have prioritized
access to specifically address the disproportionate
effect the COVID-19 virus
has had on these communities.
“This initiative is an example of future
efforts to address the gaps in medical
care that the Black communities
have endured for generations,” Turner
added.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, president and
founder of National Action Network
(NAN), said: “We plan to make this a
national model for the country.
“We want to identify, with specificity,
those NYCHA (New York City Housing
Authority) community rooms, churches,
mosques and other places our people
go, so we don’t have to drive in a car, we
don’t have to go to a Walgreens, that we
don’t go to get a vaccine,” he said.
Steven M. Cohen, former secretary
to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who will serve
as counsel, also said, “There’s a lot of
work to be done in a short amount of
time. We believe this blueprint can
also be utilized for other communities
receiving inequitable vaccine delivery
as well.”
Task Force members include: Danny
Barber, chair, Citywide Council of
Presidents of NYCHA Tenants’ Associations;
Karen Boykin-Towns, vice chairman,
NAACP Board of Directors; Kyle
Bragg, president, SEIU 32BJ; Cohen;
Jones Austin; Rev. Sharpton; Turner;
Hazel Dukes, president, NAACP New
York State Conference; Dr. Debra Furr-
Holden, epidemiologist, Michigan State
University; Morial; Arva Rice, president
and chief executive officer, New York
Urban League; and Dr. Wayne J. Riley,
president, SUNY Downstate Medical
Center.
Continued from Page 1
Former Suriname President, Desi
Bouterse. Associated Press / Edward Troon,
fi le
National Urban League Chief Executive
and President Marc Morial. REUTERS/
Mark Makela, fi le