(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO — President Desi Bouterse should accept his defeat at the High Council in the Netherlands and resign at once. This is a hard judgment made by Bouterse’ former legal advisor, Ramon de Freitas. The Dutch Supreme Court has for the third time rejected a request to review the conviction in 2000 for drugs trafficking, citing that the request was not amply motivated.
However, Bouterse’ lawyer, Inez Wezsky, maintains the Supreme Court has never taken the case seriously. De Freitas argues that Bouterse hurt his own position by making idiotic statements in public.
“These statements justify resignation by the president before parliament submits a vote of no confidence,” the former advisor says.
De Freitas tells de Ware Tijd he had expected the High Council decision. Since this was a new request, the Bouterse defence should have had more arguments to convince the Supreme Court. However, that was not the case. On top of that, Bouterse and Roy De Miranda, one of his other advisors, have hurt their case. In the government sponsored TV show Info Act de Miranda claimed the case was a political process and that main witness Patrick van Loon had demanded 75,000 Euros to withdraw his incriminating statements against Bouterse.
“Similar statements make van Loon more unreliable and that will be used by the High Council.” De Freitas regrets persons make public statements while they are no experts on the case. “That was a blunder by De Miranda and it was caused by his low level education,” De Freitas says.
Irvin Kanhai, another Bouterse lawyer, agrees with Wezsky that the request to review the Stellendam drugs case was never considered seriously by the Supreme Court. “The Council never interviewed anybody, not even Wezsky,” Kanhai says, adding that this is unmistakably a political case. The lawyers both consider going public with the dossier to prove the Dutch officials have not seriously considered this case. He still has a surprise, but needs his client’s approval before going public.
Van Loon declared he and Bouterse had loaded 474 kilos of cocaine on a speedboat in Bouterse’ residence, back in 1998 at Domburg, and transported it to a ship, Primero. Dutch authorities in Stellendam, the Netherlands, found the drugs. Based on that proof and statements by van Loon, Bouterse was sentenced to 11 years. When Bouterse was elected president of Suriname, however, van Loon retracted his statements. The High Council was probably alerted by van Loon’s sudden change of heart. Still, De Freitas says there are ample legal avenues open for Bouterse to get justice. The former advisor refuses to be more specific.
