Trial of Suriname ex-dictator to resume
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| Published on Wednesday, December 24, 2008 |
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By Ivan Cairo
Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent
Email: ivan@caribbeannetnews.com
PARAMARIBO, Suriname: A court here in Paramaribo has dismissed a motion filed by Suriname’s former dictator Desi Bouterse, who was seeking to remove the leading judge in his murder trial. The former army commander’s lawyer Irwin Kanhai submitted the motion on July 25th challenging the impartiality of the president of the Military Court, Cynthia Valstein-Montnor, while he was also seeking a court order to ban media from further covering of his murder trial.
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| Desi Bouterse. Photo by Ivan Cairo |
The chamber concluded, however, that since Bouterse were not present in court to argue his objections, his motion was not eligible for review. With a similar reasoning the court has also dismissed two other motions of the defendant since, according to Surinamese law, suspects who are challenging the impartiality of a judge should be present at the hearings. Since his trial started in November 2007 Bouterse has never set foot in court.
The court also said it rejected the defence's motion because Bouterse didn’t sign the documents his lawyer submitted as is also required by Surinamese law. The trial will likely resume in January 2009.
In the motion the attorney said that he had learned that the husband of the judge is teaching martial arts in facilities belonging to the ruling National Party Suriname of president Ronald Venetiaan, while he is not paying rent for these facilities.
The defence also discovered that the family car of the judge for a certain period was being parked at the grounds of the party’s headquarters since the judge didn’t have her own garage at home. Venetiaan is one of Bouterse’s fierce political opponents.
Claiming that there is a “deep animosity” between the defendant and the media, Kanhai requested the press be thrown out of court during Bouterse’s hearings. The military court, however, suspended the trial indefinitely since the defence had also challenged the impartiality of judge Valstein-Montnor. | | | | Reads : 1021 | | | |
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