By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOXEL,Suriname-The trial of Desi Bouterse, Suriname’s former dictator, resumed last week with new testimony. Bouterse is charged with ordering the execution of fifteen political opponents in December 1982. Eleven other individuals are also charged for these killings.

Prosecutors claim that Bouterse ordered the killing of four lawyers, four journalists, two university lecturers, two military officers, two businessmen, and a labor leader. The army claimed that it shot at the opponents because they tried to escape from the Fort Zeelandia, where they were being held after Bouterse’s security forces detained them.

Everyone who has testified at the trial so far has dismissed the army’s explanation that they were trying to escape. “Why do they have gunshot wounds on their chests and heads?” said witness Heydi de Miranda, “You would have been shot in the back.” De Miranda’s husband was killed for criticizing Bouterse’s regime.

Sali Blik, a former cameraman for a state-owned television station, testified that he saw Desi Bouterse at Fort Zeelandia sitting beside one of the victims after forcing him to make an on-camera statement. This was just hours before the man was shot.  Onno Flohr, a member of the firing squad, testified that Bouterse was present during the executions, but did not kill anyone.

The trial has been going on for over a year with numerous delays, including witnesses who fail to appear in court. Bouterse denies any direct involvement in the killings, though he has made a public apology and accepted “political responsibility” for the killings.

Bouterse seized control of Suriname in 1980, just five years after it gained independence from the Netherlands. He resigned in 1987, but briefly took power again in 1990. Bouterse is currently the chairman of Suriname’s main opposition party.

For more information, please see:

Caribbean Net News-Witness Describes Suriname’s Former Dictator as a Psychopath-3 December 2009

AP-Witness: Suriname Ex-Dictator at Execution Scene-2 December 2009

Caribbean Net News-Widow Testifies in Suriname Mass Murder Trial-2 December 2009