He was supposed to obey an order from the state prosecutor’s office and report to prison on Friday, Jan. 12, but former military strongman and ex-President Desi Bouterse appears to be on the run after he failed to show up to begin a 20-year sentence for mass murder 41 years ago.
Fears that he will not bow to the order were confirmed by his wife Ingrid Bouterse-Waldring as she told supporters and media gathered at their riverside home that the former two-time, elected president will not be an inmate at the notorious Santo Boma Prison in the city. Three of four other ex-soldiers who, like Bouterse, had lost their appeal against 15-year sentences in late December reported as ordered and were processed by authorities as wardens waited for the other two and Bouterse, 78. They range in age from 68 to 82 and all say they have serious medical complaints including kidney failure.
The five were convicted in 2019 for the December 1982 mass murders of 15 government opponents who were accused of plotting with former colonizer, The Netherlands and other western nations, of trying to reverse the 1980 military coup that Bouterse and several others had staged in February 1980.
“I don’t know, I don’t know. He is not going to register,” Mrs. Bouterse told the crowd when asked where the former commander in chief was.
Authorities had earlier in the week pointed to a new facility under construction as the special place where Bouterse will be held as it is close to the military hospital where he can easily access medical care. The building is still under construction and so officials ordered that he be placed among common criminals at Santo Boma.
His wife says he will not do so, pointing to a 2012 amnesty act which had been approved by parliament as giving her husband and the others immunity from prosecution and incarceration. The appeals court had dismissed the amnesty as null and void. Raman Abrahams, vice chair of Bouterse’s National Democratic Party (NDP) said Bouterse was safe and secure. “Don’t worry too much about the chairman, he is fine where he is.”
Bouterse’s failure to show up to start his prison sentence has triggered fears that he could be in the sights of Interpol, the France-based global police system which executes warrants and arrests for governments around the world.
The governing coalition and others who oppose Bouterse have made little secret of their desire to have him out of the way in time for general elections due in May of 2025 but Abrahams says the remaining leaders will continue fighting with an eye on retaking the government next year.
