ANPBouterse during a meeting of his party, the NDP, on December 16
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 22:37
The Surinamese Public Prosecution Service has rejected a petition from Desi Bouterse’s lawyers. The legal team had asked to stop the execution of the verdict in the December murder trial against the former president and four co-convicts.
The Public Prosecution Service announced the rejection in a letter to the lawyers, which can be read in the Surinamese newspaper, among others The True Time. It does not say why the request was rejected.
In their petition, the counselors invoked the amnesty law, which was amended in 2012, under which Bouterse and other suspects were released. The Constitutional Court ruled in 2021 that that law does not apply, but the lawyers argued that legal errors were made at the time.
No request for pardon
Bouterse was finally convicted on appeal on December 20 for his role in the December murders in 1982, in which fifteen political opponents of Bouterse’s military regime were killed. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison.
The period to apply for a pardon has expired. Yesterday was the last day on which that could have been done, but Bouterse did not take advantage of it.
President Santokhi said yesterday that the Surinamese government is waiting for instructions from the Public Prosecution Service. It is not clear where Bouterse is at the moment.
2024-01-09 21:37:15
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