Suriname prosecutors say1982 massacre was no military operation
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| Published on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 |
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By Ivan Cairo
Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent
Email: ivan@caribbeannetnews.com
PARAMARIBO, Suriname: Dismissing arguments from defense lawyers Monday prosecutors here said, that the December 1982 slaying of 15 government opponents was not a military operation.
Military prosecutor John Mohamedamin told a three panel military court that, although the killers might have used military weapons to commit the crimes, this doesn’t make it automatically a military operation. Not only army officers took part in the slaying said the prosecutor but also civilians. “This makes it an ordinary criminal act.” Mohamedamin argued.
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| Desi Bouterse. Photo by Ivan Cairo |
He also denied that the trial of former dictator Desi Bouterse and 23 others accused in the 1982 executions of the 15 opponents of Bouterse’s than military regime is politically motivated. The prosecutor argued that the tribunal would conduct a “fair trial”.
According to the prosecutor the investigation into the killings was never ordered by a politically appointed minister. The prosecution was ordered by the Court of Justice in March 2000, after relatives of the victims presented the case to the court requesting a judicial inquiry.
The prosecutor also dismissed claims of Bouterse’s attorney that his client was never interrogated during the preliminary investigation. According to Mohamedamin Bouterse had every chance and opportunity to be heard, but he never showed up when he was invited by investigators to give evidence.
On December 8, 1982, 15 men including lawyers, army officers, university lecturers, businessmen and journalists were rounded up by army personnel and eventually tortured and shot dead in the Fort Zeelandia military headquarters in Paramaribo.
Bouterse, a two-time coup leader and currently an elected member of parliament, wasn’t present at Monday’s hearing. According to his attorney Irvin Kanhai, due to the death of his father whose remains were being cremated that same day. The next hearing is scheduled for February 29, when the bench will hear presentations and additional motions from defence attorneys and prosecutors.
Bouterse, chairman of Suriname’s largest political party, NDP, has denied actual involvement in the killings, claiming only “political responsibility” for the murders, since at that time he was the government leader. In March 2007 he publicly offered apologies for the killings to relatives of the victims. | | | | Reads : 103 |
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