Major probe into details of former dictator’s death

Police in Suriname Thursday said they had launched a major probe into the death of former president Desi Bouterse, the details surrounding the mysterious emergence of his body at his closely monitored home, where exactly he was hiding and who was protecting him since he fled from justice in mid-January.

Bouterse, 79 was pronounced dead by a doctor at his riverside home on Christmas Day, nearly a year after he had disappeared into hiding hours before he was scheduled to surrender to authorities to begin a 20-year mass murder sentence.

The local police, the KPS, said in a social media statement that a criminal investigation is underway and numerous persons are being questioned. The force said it is particularly interested in determining how his body was transported “from an unknown address by unknown persons” to his home in Leonsberg in the capital where relatives, supporters and the leadership of his National Democratic Party (NDP) had gathered to mourn and comfort each other.

Police said they were informed before daybreak on Christmas Day that the former military strongman who had staged military coups in 1980 and 1990 and had served two terms as an elected president until 2020, had died and that they were invited to view his remains at his home.

How the body got there remains a mystery to frustrated authorities but the police said they then summoned a doctor who pronounced him dead.

“According to the doctor, the body showed no signs of foul play and, after consultation with the public prosecution service, was seized for an autopsy to determine the probable cause of death,” the KPS said.  “The Suriname police force makes an urgent appeal to society to await the results of the investigation and to refrain from speculation.”

His death, five months before general elections are due, came just days after police had stepped up raids at places they believed were linked to Bouterse and as a French newspaper had reported that Bouterse had been hiding out the Commewijne District across the Paramaribo harbor and not in Venezuela as was widely speculated. Bouterse is from that general area.

Meanwhile, Waterkant News publication said it had been reliably informed that the death was reported to the Bouterse family “by an unknown indigenous man” but no one can say exactly who the person is. As word spread throughout the country, NDP leaders began arriving at the home before daybreak to view the body, wrapped in a white sheet in a wooden coffin. Viewers were banned from using mobile phones. Police had questioned former first lady Ingrid Bouterse about his hiding place but she maintained ignorance about such details.

As the probe continues, a condolence book has been opened from Thursday afternoon for signing at NDP headquarters. As a highly controversial period in local history comes to a close, some regional leaders and political colleagues are reacting to his death.

Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley said Bouterse had a strong and dominant persona. “I have met many people since I took office as head of government in May 2018. But some people have a personality that is so powerful that they leave an indelible impression on everyone they come into contact with,” Mottley said of the former military dictator.

“Whether you agreed with him or not, you could not ignore the power of his personality. Desi Bouterse, former president of the Republic of Suriname, dominated Surinamese politics for four decades. It was through his eyes and heart that I came to know the rich culture of this melting pot country on the South American continent. That was how my love for Suriname and its people began,” she said.