The President of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi, prohibited this Friday the distribution of a book written by the Dutch businessmanGerard van den Bergh, who denounces corruption at the highest level in the country.
“Everything that is negative is defamation, it is slander. Some Surinamese people will find it wonderful,” the president stressed.
Through his lawyer, Gerold Sewcharanthe Surinamese president sent a letter to the publisher and a bookstore demanding the immediate withdrawal from the market of the book titled ‘Corruption at the Highest Level‘ (Corruption at the highest level, in Spanish).
The Dutch businessman’s book is about the difficulty of doing business in the country and a photo of Santokhi appears on the cover; of the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Parmanand Sewdien, and the businessman Vijay Kirpalani.
The issue was raised in the National Assembly on Thursday night, when opposition lawmaker Ann Sadi expressed shock at the publication, noting that it is detrimental to the country’s business environment.
“This is unacceptable nationally and internationally., president. We can’t allow it. So I think the president should give us an answer,” Sadi said.
“We as a country, Mr. President, we as Surinamese disapprove of foreigners treating us in this way. What I ask of the Surinamese is a firm attitude,” added the legislator.
In his book, Van den Bergh states that the success of doing business in Suriname depends not only on a personal network, but also of political protection.
It also alleges, among other things, that Suriname’s laws and regulations are subject to the whims of politicians.
The president’s lawyer asked the court in a document to approve the withdrawal of the book from the local market and that, if not done so, legal action would be taken against the bookstore.
The Public Ministry of Suriname reported on January 19 that issued an international arrest warrant for former president Desi Bouterse, after he was absent for the second time to a local prison to serve his 20-year sentence for the murders of political opponents in 1982.
Bouterse, who headed a military government in the 1980s and was president between 2010 and 2020, had already been sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2021 by the Court Martial of Suriname, which confirmed a similar ruling from 2019.
The opponents – journalists, soldiers, union leaders, lawyers, businessmen and university professors – They were arrested in December 1982 and transferred to the then headquarters of the Suriname National Army, where they were tortured and summarily executed.
