(de Ware Tijd) – A harsh exchange of words last weekend in Redi Doti between President Desi Bouterse and Ricardo Pané of the Association of Indigenous Village Chiefs (VIDS) was not allowed to be broadcast on STVS.
On Saturday, a journalist and a cameraman of this TV station were also present at President Bouterse’s visit to Redi Doti. At a certain moment, Pané criticized policymakers who have not done anything to improve the rights and position of the Indigenous people. Bouterse struck back, saying that he has been in office for just a few months and did not want to hear such criticism. Threats by Pané that protests would be held because a Parliamentarian has a large tract of land in the village of Maho in Saramacca were met by the President with the challenge to go ahead and hold these protests.
After the official event, the STVS journalist and cameraman were approached by a member of the Central Intelligence and Security Service (CIVD) and a Parliamentarian. While he was driving back to Paramaribo, the journalist received a call from the STVS’s management to turn in his tape immediately, which he did. The next day, however, the tape was gone. In the end, a news item was made, but without the confrontation between Bouterse and Pané.