By Ank Kuipers
PARAMARIBOU (Reuters) – Suriname’s fugitive former president Desi Bouterse has died aged 79, the country’s government said on Wednesday, nearly a year after he went on the run to avoid prison for the 1982 murders of 15 political activists.
“The government of the former president of the Republic of Suriname, Mr. D. “We were informed of Bouterse’s death through the family and our own investigation,” Foreign Minister Albert Ramdin told Reuters.
The former leader died on Tuesday, the government said, without confirming where, or even which country. Last week, Suriname authorities raided his home – where supporters had gathered to pay their respects on Wednesday morning – but were unable to find him.
Buters dominated politics in the small South American country for decades, leading a coup in 1980 and finally stepping down in 2020.
In 2019, he and six others were convicted of involvement in the 1982 murders of 15 leading government critics, including lawyers, journalists, union leaders, soldiers and university professors, for which Bouterse was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Bouterse claimed the slain man was connected to a planned invasion of the former Dutch colony.
After years of legal back-and-forth, Butters was ordered to report to jail in January, but he failed to show up on the scheduled date.
The former president’s family will make a statement later on Wednesday, members of his political party told reporters.