‘Bouterse may have spent a long time in the Surinamese jungle’: mystery surrounding his disappearance remains unsolved

Years ago, when a Surinamese boatswain went hunting with friends near the Cassewinica creek in Commewijne, they were suddenly stopped by a group of heavily armed men. “I immediately saw that they did not have hunting rifles with them, like we use for hunting. They were clearly carrying heavy military weapons,” the boatswain remembers. He transports tourists and goods by boat and does not want his name in the newspaper.

It is Saturday afternoon, after a turbulent week for Suriname since the death of ex-president Desi Bouterse. He was a fugitive after his conviction for the December murders on appeal in 2023. The murder of fifteen critics of Bouterse’s military regime has left deep scars in Suriname.

The autopsy report was published this weekend, which showed that Bouterse died of liver disease as a result of chronic alcohol use. In the meantime, family members and his political party, the NDP, are preparing Bouterse’s funeral, which will be held on January 3 and 4. This will not be a state funeral, the government determined. As a former president, Bouterse would be eligible for this, but does not receive it because of his conviction for the December murders.

In the meantime, there are still many pressing and unanswered questions. Such as the question of where Bouterse hid between his conviction and his death. According to various sources, one of the last locations where Bouterse was spotted is in Commewijne, in the area where the boatswain was stopped. “After we were aggressively forced to leave immediately by those armed men, I was later told by colleagues that we were in Bouterse’s area and that he has a large country residence there. I heard he has been seen there a lot lately,” says the boatswain.

In the middle of the jungle

According to various sources, in the area where the hunters were stopped, in the middle of the jungle and between small tributaries of the Commewijne River, there is a building complex that is said to have been owned by the deceased ex-president. This may be the location where Bouterse recently hid.

Satellite images show that construction has taken place in that area since 2013, at a place about fifty kilometers from Paramaribo known as the Copi nature reserve. You can easily fly there with a small plane, but it takes hours by boat. According to the Surinamese newspaper the True Time After his death, Bouterse’s body would have been transported from a location in Commewijne to his home in Leonsberg after his death during a long boat trip – during which ebb and flow had to be taken into account.

The boatswain draws a map of the Commewijne River with a side branch in the sand. “This is where we were stopped,” he says. “I never dared to hunt in the area again after that. When I heard that it was from Bouterse, I got scared.”

The pilot of a small Cessna plane studies the coordinates and calculates that it should be about a fifteen to twenty minute flight, about thirty miles. After take-off, the buildings of Paramaribo quickly disappear from view, and after the Jules Albert Wijdenbosch bridge and the last low-rise buildings of the opposite Commewijne district, a vast wooded area comes into view.

Kidney patient

If Bouterse remained in Suriname after his flight, it would be extra painful for the police and the judiciary. There have always been rumors that his hand was over his head. Immediately after his flight, many scenarios were circulated. He would be in Cuba or Venezuela, countries where he was friends with the heads of state and could receive medical care: it is known that Bouterse had health problems and was a kidney patient.

But it is also known that Bouterse had several country residences in the Surinamese interior. From his estate Broko Baka, in the southern district of Brokopondo, to the west of the country. Although there was little visible to society of a search for Bouterse, according to the police, there was a search for Bouterse and his ex-bodyguard Dijksteel. Dijksteel also disappeared after the conviction.

There have always been rumors that Bouterse has been blamed

Ramon Abrahams, vice-chairman of Bouterse’s National Democratic Party (NDP) and his right-hand man for many years, received a call from the former president on the day he had to report to prison, on January 12 this year. “Bouterse called me in the early morning. ‘Ramon, I’m gone. Do what you have to do,’” Abrahams says during a conversation with NRC. “I told him: take care of yourself. You are a top soldier so you will be safe. That was the last conversation we had. I received a letter from him once. It was clear that he had no intention of surrendering,” Abrahams said.

Media in neighboring French Guiana first reported in early December that there were signals that Bouterse had been seen in Commewijne. A witness said it was at a location only accessible by boat or plane.

After fifteen minutes of flying above Commewijne, there is nothing left but jungle with some small creeks here and there. When the plane flies about a hundred meters away, a building suddenly appears among the greenery, and then another. From the side window you can clearly see how a complex with several stone houses was built along a creek. Strategically located, only accessible by water, a number of dirt roads lead into the forest.

If you have money in Suriname, everything you need is easy to arrange

“If you have money in Suriname you can do anything,” says the boatswain. “Everything you need can then be easily arranged. I suspect that Bouterse needed medical help and may have received it from a doctor he had flown in from French Guiana, which is only a ten-minute flight from that place,” he says. That would also explain why it emerged via French Guiana that Bouterse had been seen repeatedly in this area.

Ramon Abrahams says he does not know where Bouterse has been all this time. “In any case, he managed to live in freedom until his death. You’ve got to hand it to him. He was never locked up for even a day.”

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