Suriname’s former dictator Desi Bouterse was sentenced on Wednesday to 20 years in prison for the murders of 15 opponents of the then-military regime in December 1982, ending a historic 16-year legal process.
Bouterse, 78, was previously sentenced in the case in 2019 and in 2021 but had appealed both decisions. The court on Wednesday upheld his conviction and the latest sentencing was seen as final with no more appeals allowed. The judge handed down 20 years given the ex-president’s age and that it was the highest sentence allowed at the time of the killings.
The former president remains chair of the National Democratic Party and some fear unrest in parts of Suriname. Die-hard supporters call him “boss” and have maintained they will not accept a conviction. Bouterse has urged calm several times. Tight security measures were in place in part of the capital of Paramaribo.
Bouterse still has the option of requesting a presidential pardon, but according to Essed, the legislation in Suriname is unclear on the issue. “If a request for clemency is made, it is not expected that the Court will advise on granting it.”
Bouterse led a bloodless coup to become dictator from 1980 to 1987 and was democratically elected president from 2010 to 2020.
He and two dozen others were accused of rounding up well-known people including lawyers, journalists and a university professor and executing them in 1982 in a colonial fortress in Paramaribo.
The former dictator has accepted “political responsibility” but insists he was not present for the killings known as the “December murders.”
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