Former Surinamese president Desi Bouterse (79) has died. The newspaper reports this The True Time Wednesday morning based on “several well-established sources.” The fugitive ex-army leader is said to have died at a safe house after a short illness.
The former leader’s family has not yet confirmed the death.
Rumors about Bouterse’s possible death had been circulating for several hours, especially on social media. People gathered in front of the office of his political party NDP and in front of his home in the Surinamese capital Paramaribo.
Bouterse was in power from 1980 to 1988 during the military regime in Suriname. In 2010, he became president of the country and remained so for two terms, until July 2020. On December 20, 2023, Bouterse was finally sentenced to 20 years in prison on appeal for his role in the December murders in 1982. He was previously sentenced to eleven in the Netherlands. year in prison for involvement in cocaine trafficking.