Fmr. Suriname President Desi Bouterse ordered to report to prison on Friday

Surinamese former president Desi Bouterse and four others must report to a Surinamese prison on Friday, the Surinamese Public Prosecution Service (OM) confirmed on Wednesday. Last month, Bouterse was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for his involvement in the 1982 December Murders. His co-defendants were sentenced to 15 years in prison.

A total of 15 political opponents to Bouterse's military coup were abducted from their homes in the middle of the night in December 1982. They were brought to Fort Zeelandia in Paramaribo, which Bouterse was using as his administration's headquarters at the time. The victims were all killed.

Bouterse changed his legal representation after the conviction and sentencing. His new legal team asked the OM on Monday to postpone the start of the sentence for all five defendants. The request from the attorneys was filed on the last day Bouterse was able to ask the current president, Chan Santokhi, for a pardon. His primary attorney, Irvin Kanhai, was not in favor of requesting clemency, and did not do so.

The lawyers told Surinamese newspaper De Ware Tijd that they were authorized by Bouterse and his four co-defendants. This indicated that Kanhai, who has assisted Bouterse in this case for more than 16 years, has been sidelined, the newspaper said when it first reported the story.

The lawyers argued that on December 20, Suriname's High Court did not take into account a letter from the military prosecutor in 2016, in which it pointed out a possible consequence of a controversial amnesty law. As such, they claimed the High Court affirmed a judgment which was not actually valid.

The OM in Suriname rejected this petition from Bouterse's new legal team, according to Starnieuws. The Public Prosecution Service did not initially provide information about why it rejected the petition on Tuesday evening. The legal representation has demanded an in-depth explanation. They have also petitioned the High Court over the matter, for which they still expect an answer.

The court case first started in 2007, but faced repeated delays. One lawyer for the surviving relatives of the December Murders, Hugo Essed, has asked security services to be on heightened alert. He has indications that the conviction and sentence could cause unrest in the coming days.