PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC -The Court docket of Justice will rule on March 20 whether or not or not there was a good trial during which former president Desi Bouterse was sentenced to twenty years in jail and 4 of his associates to fifteen years in jail.
Bouterse, 78, who was not current when the Court docket issued the ruling sentencing him to jail in December final yr, has not reported to start his sentence, and his whereabouts are unknown. Bouterse and his former bodyguard, Iwan Dijksteel, are on the run.
The previous army officers and civilians had been charged with the December 8, 1982, murders of 15 males, together with journalists, army officers, union leaders, attorneys, businessmen, and college lecturers.
The prosecution had alleged that the boys have been arrested on December 7 and eight nights and transferred to Fort Zeelandia, the then headquarters of the Surinamese Nationwide Military. They mentioned the boys have been tortured and summarily executed.
On Tuesday, the Court docket of Justice heard the enchantment to the most recent problem in Chambers, with the attorneys arguing that there was no honest authorized course of.
They’re reported to have requested the Court docket of Justice to droop the judgment till this has been investigated within the substantive proceedings. Nevertheless, the Public Prosecution Service objected to the request.
The three males – Ernst Gefferie, Stephanus Dendoe, and Benny Brondenstein – already serving their jail terms- have been on the listening to behind closed doorways.
Attorneys Nailah van Dijk, Murwin Dubois, and Milton Castelen advised journalists after the listening to that they have been optimistic the Court docket would rule of their favor.
Dubois mentioned they’d made “stable arguments” to indicate {that a} honest trial had not been carried out.
The attorneys made each oral and written submissions to the Court docket, which is predicted handy down a verdict in six weeks. a
Associated
