Suriname’s court upholds 20-year prison term for former president in murder case

The Court of Justice on Wednesday sentenced former Surinamese President Desi Bouterse to a 20-years in prison.

The ruling marks the latest development in a long-standing case that implicates Bouterse in the heinous murders of 15 individuals on December 8, 1982.

Bouterse, now 78 years old, was absent as the Court handed down its decision.

Reports are that he had appealed against his conviction that had been handed down in August 2021, when the Court Martial of Suriname upheld the 2019 military court ruling of a 20-year jail term following a trial that had been going on for several years.

A trial that defied odds: 2017’s critical turn

In 2017, Desi Bouterse and 23 co-defendants appeared in the military court after the Court of Justice had earlier dismissed a motion to halt the trial.

The charges stemmed from the December 8, 1982 murders of 15 men, a group that included journalists, military officers, union leaders, lawyers, businessmen, and university lecturers.

The prosecution’s grim allegations

Throughout the proceedings, the prosecution asserted that the victims had been apprehended on the nights of December 7 and 8, then subsequently transported to Fort Zeelandia, the Surinamese National Army’s former headquarters.

According to reports, these men suffered torture and were executed without trial, with their fates sealed during this period of unlawful confinement.

Sentence for Bouterse

While no order for his immediate arrest has been announced, Justice Dinesh Sewratan said that the 15 men were murdered without conscience and that there was indeed premeditation.

Taking into account the historical context and the legal landscape of the time the crimes occurred, Justice Sewratan opted for the highest available sentence of 20 years.