The Suriname Public Prosecution (OM) will track down former President Dessie Bouterse. He did not report to prison on Friday. Bouterse received a twenty-year prison sentence for his role in the December 1982 murders.
Euan Dijksteel, Bouterse's former bodyguard, was also tracked down. The other three convicts responded to the Public Prosecution’s call. They entered a prison 20 kilometers from Paramaribo on Friday morning.
Bouterse was to report to prison on Friday at 9am local time (1pm Dutch time). In the lead-up, it was not really clear whether the former president would do so.
His roommate refused to accept the notice Thursday. Bouterse's lawyer, Ervin Kanhai, later confirmed this in a conversation with the Syrian radio station Lim FM That Bouterse would adhere to “law and justice.”
Bouterse's wife, Ingrid Walding, announced on Friday, just minutes before the deadline, that her husband would not attend. Kanhai then told reporters at Santo Puma prison that he was going to get Bouterse.
Wat zijn de Decembermoorden?
Op 8 december 1982 werden vijftien advocaten, journalisten, militairen, universitaire docenten, een vakbondsleider en een zakenman gemarteld en geëxecuteerd. Desi Bouterse was op dat moment leider van het militaire regime in Suriname.
De moorden gingen de geschiedenisboeken in als de Decembermoorden. Ze vonden plaats in Fort Zeelandia, op dat moment het hoofdkwartier van Bouterse.