Stichting 8 December 1982: “Government is thwarting trial”
The relatives of the victims of the December 8 killings on Wednesday pointed out that the government is thwarting the proceedings in this mega trial. Sunil Oemrawsingh, chairman of Stichting 8 December 1982, told Times of Suriname that the government first tried to do so with the amended Amnesty Act but that it failed. “Now they want to halt the proceedings by ‘using’ Article 148 of the constitution,” said Oemrawsingh who deemed it regrettable that the government issued a resolution on June 29, 2016 which was one day prior to the day when the trial would be resumed. The resolution instructed the attorney general to halt the prosecution of the main suspect, Desi Bouterse, and others at once. “Justice and Police Minister Jennifer van Dijk-Silos concluded that the judiciary was seriously ‘interrupting’ the constitutional state and that this lead to Article 148. Oemrawsingh pointed out that the resolution of the government cannot have any influence whatsoever on the proceedings and that the trial must be resumed. He hopes that the Military Court will make things clear next year. He also made it clear that Stichting 8 December 1982 supports all of the relatives of victims of human rights violations in word and deed. “The relatives will always consider December 8 a dark page in their lives. Their loved ones were tortured to death on December 8, 1982”