Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 17 december 2019

Convicted in massacre, Suriname’s leader hangs on tight

By HARMEN BOERBOOM sion with the help of foreign
MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN countries in order to expel
Associated Press the military regime. Military
PARAMARIBO, Suriname leaders declared that the
(AP) — Zahara Kamper- victims were shot during an
veen laid white lilies be- escape attempt.
fore a glossy black plaque, After a brutal reign and
then gently touched the 1987 transition to mostly
name of her grandfather, free elections, under inter-
a radio-station owner ex- national pressure, Bouterse
ecuted by a military junta moved to the sidelines,
in Suriname along with where he started building
14 other men nearly two a political party able to
decades before she was compete in free elections.
born. Suriname saw a halting
“They were murdered be- progress toward democ-
cause they fought for you racy, including freer media
and for me. For our fu- and a largely independent
ture,” the 19-year-old law judiciary. An investigation
student told a crowd that into the December mur-
gathered to remember the ders began in 2000. As the
victims. court slowly called witness-
The man responsible for es and heard evidence,
the murder of André Kam- year after year, Bouterse
perveen was President not only remained free, he
Desi Bouterse, according returned to power. In 2010
to a verdict delivered last In this Aug. 12, 2015 file photo, Suriname President Desire “Desi” Delano Bouterse observes a he was elected president,
month. Despite the finding military parade, after being sworn in for his second term, in Paramaribo, Suriname. a position he has held
that he ordered the 1982 Associated Press since. Most Surinamers are
killings known here as the below the age of 30 and
December murders, Bout- National Democratic Party, taken hold in most of the union leaders and journal- don’t remember the coup
erse remains president and along with powerful allies region. ists — were arrested and years. In a wildly diverse
a possible candidate for a like China. For the relatives The burly, goateed army shot point-blank, in Fort country of African, indig-
third term in elections next of the slain and other Bout- sergeant led a 1980 coup Zeelandia, a 17th-century enous, Asian and Euro-
year in this sparsely popu- erse opponents, the presi- that established military colonial fortress in the capi- pean descent, Bouterse’s
lated former Dutch colony dent’s continued freedom rule for more than seven tal, Paramaribo. National Democratic Party
on the northeast edge of and political power are years. After an attempted Before the victims were unites the country’s many
South America. troubling signs of tiny Suri- counter-coup and street slain, some of them, under ethic groups and main-
Bouterse, 74, says he’s the name’s inability to emerge protests supporting it, Kam- pressure from the military, tains vigorous outreach to
victim of a politically moti- from the era of brutal South perveen and other junta declared in a television the poor, including food
vated prosecution, and he American strongmen into opponents — including recording that they had distribution in low-income
retains strong support in his the democracy that has prominent lawyers, trade been preparing an inva- sections of the capital. q
Police in Argentina arrest 4 in killing of British tourist

Associated Press
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Police in Argentina
have arrested four men suspected in the killing of a
British tourist who was shot during a robbery attempt,
authorities said Monday.
Authorities were searching for a fifth suspect in the mur-
der of Briton Matthew Charles Gibbard in Buenos Aires
on Saturday, according to Argentine officials.
Gibbard, 50, was shot as he and his stepson ap-
proached a luxury hotel in the Puerto Madero area of
the Argentine capital. The stepson, a 28-year-old Brit-
on, suffered a gunshot wound. The assailants were on
a motorcycle and supported by accomplices in a car,
and the tourists tried to resist the attack, according to
an official account.
Authorities identified the vehicles used by the attack-
ers from security camera footage and conducted
more than a dozen searches in the Buenos Aires area,
said Marcelo D’Alessandro, justice and security direc-
tor in Buenos Aires.
Eduardo Scarzello, a senior security official, said the
A police officer stands in front of the Faena Art Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, hours after gang involved in Gibbard’s death had operated at
assailants trying to rob two British tourists shot and killed one of them and wounded the other, the city’s international airport, identifying U.S., Europe-
Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019.
Associated Press an and other tourists and following them to their desti-
nations in order to rob them.q