In a major development, which could have security concerns, Suriname’s public prosecution service has asked former military strongman and former elected president Desi Bouterse to report to a city jailhouse on Friday, Jan. 12 to begin his 20-year sentence for the 1982 mass murders of 15 government opponents following a final ruling in his case late last month.
Bouterse 78, and four other former soldiers were convicted in late 2019 for the military-style execution of 15 people, who the then military government had back then, accused of plotting with The Netherlands and other western nations to reverse the 1980 military coup that had toppled the elected civilian government.
Last month, an appeals court reaffirmed the 2019 sentence, throwing the fate of the five to the prosecutor’s office for final determination. On Wednesday, the office formally instructed the five to report to the penal system to begin their various sentencing periods. Bouterse’s 20-year ruling is by far the longest of the five as he was then in charge of the country and the military at the time.
Local media is widely reporting that a relatively small concrete special jail house with shutter windows is being constructed on the grounds of the local military hospital but from all indications work will not be completed until mid to late February. All local print media publications have carried photographs of the unfinished one-story building, identifying it as being specially built to house and host the former two-time coup maker and twice elected civilian president. The facility is near the military hospital apparently to cater for any current and future medical issues of Bouterse.
He is also the leader of the main opposition National Democratic Party (NDP), which is likely to do well in next year’s general elections, having lost to a multiparty coalition in 2020. It is also unclear whether he will hold on to the leadership of the NDP.
The sentences are being carried out after last-minute efforts by a new defense team to have the incarcerations suspended failed as the prosecutor’s office dismissed these efforts as irrelevant. And as expected, Bouterse’s defense team did not approach President Chan Santokhi for a presidential pardon but instead pointed to provisions in a 2012 parliamentary amnesty, which had given Bouterse and the others immunity from jail. The court later ruled that the amnesty was illegal, null and void.
Authorities say security forces are on alert in the event of any unrest even though the former president and the NDP leadership have asked supporters to remain calm and to act responsibly.
