(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – The 8 December murder trial will be resumed this month. Senior public prosecutor Carmen Rasam confirms that the next session is scheduled for 12 December.
The summonses have been drafted and only need to be sent to the different parties involved. The trial was adjourned after adoption of the Amnesty Act by Parliament last April. The Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) had proposed the adjournment until the Constitutional Court had been established.
The Court would be the only authoritative body to prove whether the Amnesty Act is in violation of the Constitution or international treaties Suriname is party to. The Court Martial decided on 11 May to adjourn the case indefinitely to allow the OM enough room to study the possibilities. In the meantime, the OM has responded in writing and now it is the Court Martial’s turn in the next session.
Witness Hans Valk (84) died on 11 November. The retired colonel of the Dutch Army could reveal much of the Dutch government’s role in the 1980 coup d’état. After Suriname became independent in 1975, Valk was appointed Military attaché at the Dutch Embassy in Paramaribo.
