By Ivan Cairo
Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent
Email: ivan@caribbeannetnews.com

PARAMARIBO, Suriname: Prosecutors in Suriname will soon lay charges against six Guyanese nationals suspected of piracy against local and foreign fishermen in Surinamese waters. Asked whether the Surinamese authorities were considering expulsion of the detainees, judicial officials disclosed that currently everything is being put in place to prosecute them here.

“These men have committed crimes in Suriname waters, so it is our legal responsibility to try them here. We will not hand them over to Guyana,” said solicitor-general Roy Baidjnath-Panday in an invited comment. He further added that the six suspects were brought before an examining-judge to establish the legality of their detention.

“Their incarceration has been extended with 30 days by the examining-judge,” said Baidjnath-Panday.

Handguns, knives and masks the suspects used during attacks on fishermen in the Coppename area in Suriname.  Photo by Suriname Police Force

According to commissioner Krishnakoemarie Hussainali-Mathoera, head of the Judicial Department of the Suriname Police Force, charges could be laid as soon as next week.

“These were serious crimes, and we will prosecute,” she added.

Judicial officials indicate that the suspects could be slapped with charges related to illegal possession of firearms, robbery, illegal entry, larceny and battery.

Last week police spokesman Inspector John Jones told the local media that inquiries so far have revealed that the six-man gang, whose ages ranged from 25 to 35 years, for a period of time, had been targeting fishing boats but managed to elude Suriname police by hiding in Guyana after their attacks.

Shortly after they committed an attacked again on March 29 against six fishermen operating in the Coppename River, police units were dispatched to the area, which ultimately resulted in the apprehension of the six criminals.

Four of the victims were captured and subsequently bound and gagged while their boat was seized. Two others were ordered to accompany the assailants in another vessel in further robbery attacks on other fishing boats, Jones said.

After these two victims were freed during a police raid, they informed detectives that at least 10 to 12 other boats were robbed of fuel, food and other valuables in Suriname waters. Suriname's Maritime Police units and members of the Anti-Terror Unit (ATE) were able to spot one of the boats that had been hijacked and subsequently arrested two suspects and freed the four fishermen who were being held hostage.

As the search for the remaining pirates continued, at around 0700 hours the next day, officers from the Anti-Terror Unit located the second boat and subsequently arrested the other four pirates, who were holding the remaining two victims. Several barrels of fuel were found on the boat where four of the victims were being held captive.

The fishermen are claiming that they were robbed of money, outboard engines and catch while they were also brutally beaten. All of the victims are Guyanese nationals working for Surinamese boat owners.

Last year Suriname police arrested six Guyanese nationals said to be involved in piracy acts against fishermen.