Ex-Suriname President Bouterse Dies In Hiding After Conviction For Murders

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent reporting from Amsterdam

PARAMARIBO/AMSTERDAM (Worthy News) – Suriname’s ex-president Desi Bouterse, who was on the run after being convicted for political murders, has died, several Surinamese sources say. He was 79.

Bouterse fled the capital Paramaribo on December 20 last year after being convicted for his leading role in the “December Murders” of December 8, 1982, in which 15 opponents were killed.

The murders in Suriname, a former Dutch colony, shocked the South American country as well as the Netherlands, home to hundreds of thousands of Surinamese.

In January this year, he was supposed to report to prison to begin serving his twenty-year sentence, but by then, he had disappeared. Last Sunday, police raided his Paramaribo apartment but said “he was not found” there.

A pastor from Suriname who knows the situation well told Worthy News at the time he had doubts Bouterse would be detained. “Suriname is a small community where people know each other. I have doubts that he will serve time in jail.”

The pastor’s predictions turned out to be correct: After nearly a year in hiding, Bouterse’s human remains were transported to Paramaribo, local media reported.

Crowds gathered at his residence in Paramaribo-North, including reporters and members of his National Democratic Party (NDP).

ADVENTUROUS LIFE

His death came after an adventurous life that included his actions in 1980 when Bouterse led a military coup in Suriname.

The military subsequently formed the National Military Council (NMR), seen by human rights watchers as a horrific regime.

The Bouterse era was marked by the infamous December Murders when, on the night of December 7 to 8, 1982, fifteen opponents of the military regime were tortured and executed at Fort Zeelandia, Bouterse’s headquarters.

The victims included lawyers, journalists, as well as soldiers who were linked to a previous coup attempt against him.

Yer Boutersews was only sentenced for his role in the December Murders in 2019 when he received a twenty-year prison term.

He appealed the verdict in 2023, but it was upheld. After early 2024, Bouterse failed to report to prison, and his whereabouts remained a mystery.

There had been suggestions that Bouters hid in Suriname’s extensive rain forests or fled to Cuba or Venezuela.

MORE UPHEAVAL?

Romeo Hoost, chairman of the Committee for the Remembrance of Suriname’s Victims, called Bouterse’s death “truly unfortunate.” In published remarks, Hoost said: “He needed to stay alive to serve his twenty-year sentence.”

Bouterse’s passing was due to add to upheaval in the country of about 640,000 people, which has seen recent protests against soaring inflation and austerity measures.

However, the nation’s government has agreements with energy giants to launch its first primary offshore oil production in 2028.

Energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie has estimated Suriname’s discovered resources to be more than 2.4 billion barrels of oil and liquids and more than 12.5 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Shell, TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy, and Petronas signed production-sharing contracts with Suruname’s state-run Staatsolie for at least three offshore blocks.

The government hopes this will help to revive Suriname as a prosperous nation in the post-Bouterse era.

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