Desi Bouterse, Suriname’s fugitive former president, dies at 79 – #INA

Desi Bouterse, the previous president of Suriname who fled authorities to keep away from jail after his conviction over the homicide of activists within the Nineteen Eighties, has died at age 79, the federal government says.

“In anticipation of extra detailed and definitive info from official channels, we want to provide our condolences to the spouse, youngsters and different surviving family members for this loss,” President Chan Santokhi mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday, referring to Bouterse.

Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk wrote on Fb that Bouterse’s “life had an enduring impression on our nation and his efforts is not going to be forgotten”.

His explanation for dying was not instantly clear, and the federal government didn’t present particulars on the place Bouterse died on Tuesday.

A divisive determine, Bouterse was applauded by supporters for his charisma and populist social programmes however considered by his opponents as a ruthless dictator who was convicted of drug trafficking and extrajudicial killings.

He dominated politics within the small nation on the northeastern coast of South America for many years, main a coup in 1980 and eventually leaving workplace in 2020.

In 2019, he and 6 different folks have been convicted for his or her roles within the 1982 murders of 15 main authorities critics, together with attorneys, journalists, union leaders, troopers and college professors.

Bouterse had claimed the murdered males have been related to a deliberate invasion of the previous Dutch colony.

In December final yr, Bouterse was sentenced to twenty years in jail for the murders, ending a historic 16-year authorized course of.

He then vanished and by no means served time in jail.

“There’s no one who has formed the historical past of Suriname since its independence like Desi Bouterse,” mentioned Dutch historian Pepijn Reeser, who wrote a biography of Bouterse in 2015.

He mentioned Bouterse was the primary to beat the stark social class divide that after outlined Suriname.

“Earlier than the coup, it was unthinkable anyone from the decrease class may turn into essentially the most highly effective man of the nation. However he was additionally the primary postcolonial chief to resort to political violence and the primary to make use of Suriname as a transshipment level for unlawful narcotics,” Reeser mentioned.

In 1999, a Dutch court docket sentenced Bouterse in absentia to 11 years in jail for smuggling greater than 453kg (1,000lb) of cocaine to the Netherlands. The absence of an extradition treaty between the nations meant he by no means served his time in jail.

Early on Wednesday, dozens of supporters gathered outdoors Bouterse’s residence, the place his spouse lived, tears streaming down their faces.

Many have been wearing purple, the color of his political get together.