Left with no more judicial options after an appeals court recently reaffirmed a 20-year jail sentence for mass murder from 2019, former Surinamese military strongman and two-time civilian president Desi Bouterse is on the run from authorities after failing to report to a state prison last Friday to begin his sentence.
Bouterse, 78, and four other ex-soldiers who were convicted of participating in the execution of 15 government opponents while the military was running the country back in December 1982, were to report to the Santa Boma state prison on Friday. Only three of them, including an 82-year-old, reported to prison authorities. Bouterse and a fourth, who doubles as his bodyguard, simply disappeared from view and are in hiding and are believed, according to local media reports, to be somewhere in the Amazonian jungle in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) nation.
The first real signs that the former head of state would not surrender to prison authorities emerged early Friday when his wife, Ingrid Bouterse-Waldring, told supporters and leaders of Bouterse’s National Democratic Party (NDP) that he would not be surrendering for various reasons, including that a 2012 amnesty approved by parliament had given him and the others immunity from jail. The court had dismissed the amnesty act as null and void.
“I don’t know, I don’t know. He is not going to register,” Bouterse-Waldring told the crowd.
Adding to the mystery and drama, Ramon Abrahams, vice chair of the Bouterse National Democratic Party (NDP), said Bouterse is safe and secure. “Don’t worry too much about the chairman; he is fine where he is,” said Abrahams, triggering speculation among authorities that the party is hiding and protecting Bouterse.
The 15, including four journalists, labor leaders, clergy, and academics, were executed by the military at a colonial-era fort right next door to the presidential secretariat and a stone’s throw from the palace. They had been accused of plotting with the country’s former colonizer, the Dutch, and other western nations to reverse the 1980 military coup.
Surviving family members have applauded the December 20 ruling that reaffirmed the 2019 jail sentences of Bouterse. The others got an average of five years fewer than Bouterse.
His disappearance and failure to register with prison authorities have turned attention to the state prosecutor’s office, which is now being accused of not properly monitoring the former military strongman in the days leading up to last Friday.
General elections are due in May of next year. The NDP, with 16 of the 51 parliamentary seats, is anxious to win it or form a governing coalition, because the next president could pardon all five of the former soldiers who participated in the 1980 coup and had been convicted of the mass murders.
Bouterse’s failure to show up has also triggered fears that he could be in the sights of Interpol, the France-based global police system that 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 the next general elections, but Abrahams said the remaining leaders will continue fighting with an eye on retaking the government next year. Representatives of a survivors group who had been monitoring the case for the past two decades say they hope Bouterse is nabbed and made to serve his sentence.
“I deeply regret that Mr. Bouterse was not present at the prison and is now on the run. This raises serious questions about the rule of law and respect for legal processes. I trust that the judicial authorities will do everything in their power to track down Bouterse,” spokesperson Sunil Oemrawsingh told reporters.
