December Murder Process resumed against Bouterse

- The trial against the Surinamese President Desi Bouterse and 25 other suspects in the December murders, will resume Friday. This occurs after more than 3.5 years has halted.

On December 8, 1982 tortured and killed the then military regime Bouterse fifteen opponents of the regime in Fort Zeelandia. That was the headquarters of the military rulers.

The Surinamese martial suspended the process in 2012, after the Suriname parliament passed a controversial amnesty law. This law regulates that all suspects in the December murders go unpunished.

The suspension was necessary so that the Constitutional Court could assess whether the amnesty law does not conflict with the Surinamese Constitution. But is such a court (yet) in Suriname.

The highest court in the country late last year gave the Prosecution command to resume the prosecution. This happened after the relatives of the victims had requested.