By Bert Wilkinson
He only has one more legal
card to play and that is to appeal
Monday’s (Aug.30) 20-year mass
murder sentence imposed by
Suriname’s highest court but
judging from the utterances of
the panel of judges, Desi Bouterse
would have to produce and
overwhelming set of new points
of evidence to overturn the verdict
in his favor.
Monday’s ruling by the court
has reaffirmed the late 2019
sentence on the former military
strongman turned two time
elected president for the late
1982 murders of 15 government
opponents who were tortured
and executed at a downtown
colonial era Dutch fort right
next door to the office of the
president.
The then Bouterse-led military
government, which had
two years earlier kicked out the
elected government in a military
coup, had accused the 15
of conspiring with The Netherlands
and other western nations
in plotting an alleged counter
coup. Many, among them
four journalists, clergymen,
labor leaders and academics,
were roused from their sleep,
taken to the fort, questioned
and tortured before being shot
by soldiers. Bouterse, then a
young and idealistic revolutionary
who wanted to “decolonize”
the Dutch from local affairs,
has persistently denied giving
any order to execute the group
but has said he takes collective
responsibility for the tragedy
because he was in military and
national command at the time.
Neither he nor his lawyer
Irvin Kanhai turned up for
the brief reading of the widely
expected verdict, but both
have said they will comply with
the 14-day timeline to file an
appeal even though the judges
were circumspect to point out
that the defense had missed yet
another opportunity to bring
any new evidence to convince
the three-lady panel to rule otherwise.
As was widely predicted,
the judges stayed clear of ordering
his arrest and detention
Caribbean L 16 ife, SEPTEMBER 3-9, 2021
until the appeal, apparently well
aware this could have sparked
some form of unrest. The Chan
Santokhi government had, however,
placed police and soldiers
on high alert but there were no
incidents apart from the presence
of about 100 Bouterse supporters
peacefully chanting slogans
near the courthouse.
The ruling has come at a
very bad and unfortunate time
for Bouterse, 75. His favorite
grandson, Walter Bouterse shot
and killed himself several weeks
ago in the midst of a national
investigation into the disappearance
of a large cache of
weapons from his grand dad’s
private home. The weapons
were transferred to the home
while Bouterse was head of
state. One of his sons, Dino,
is serving a 16-year cocaine
trafficking sentence in the US,
while the former charismatic
head of state has made no secret
of his battle with ill health in
recent years. The weapons
cache had included two military
grade rocket propelled grenade
Former President of Suriname, Desi Bouterse. Associated Press
/ Edward Troon
launchers, two machine guns,
25 AK-47 rifles and a dozen
handguns among others. Bouterse
had said he was deeply saddened
by Walter’s death.
Reacting to the latest development
on Tuesday, Bouterse
laid the blame for the disappearance
of the weapons squarely at
the feet of his grandson, telling
reporters that the equipment
was stolen “by Walter and his
companions. After his death,
many ammunition and weapons
were found in the house
where he often stayed,” the
former army sergeant turned
1980 coup leader said.
Former Suriname President
Desi Bouterse’s last stance
1st Session Trial Offer expires 10/30/2021