“Van der San told lies about Operation Octopuss”

According to Melvin Linscheer, the former Minister of Justice and Police Eugene Van der San was lying at Monday’s press conference by claiming that he did not know anything about Operation Octopuss. “He knew about it and we can prove it if we take a look at the time line of everything that took place”, said Linscheer. “If he says that he knew nothing, we must ask ourselves if he ever requested the information or if it was deliberately kept from him”, said Linscheer who referred to a timeline to indicate that “Van der San did know something.” “On March 27 the various agencies convened to discuss the fight against crime. Operation Octopuss was coordinated by the National Security Bureau (BNV) and the Police Force Suriname (KPS) and sanctioned by the president. Interim Minister Ferdinand Welzijn attended the first meeting as minister of Justice and Police. Van der San was sworn into office on March 31. On April 5 there was a press briefing where the president announced the operation which was launched on April 6.

On April 13 there was another top level security meeting where the plan was presented and which Van der San attended. On April 19 the then minister received the US ambassador at his ministry and discussed the operation that was being carried out by the KPS and the National Army (NL). Everybody currently knows what happened to the minister after that,” said Linscheer who added that Octopuss was financed with money from the regular budget of the BNV, KPS and NL. He pointed out that the BNV covered most of the costs. “All of this indicates that Van der San did in fact have knowledge about the operation and so he cannot claim that he was never aware of it.” Operation Octopuss will reportedly evaluated before being resumed.