Chan Santokhi
| Chan Santokhi | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Minister of Justice and Police | |
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In office 1 September 2005 – 13 August 2010 |
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| Member of the National Assembly | |
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Assumed office 12 August 2010 |
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| Leader of the Progressive Reform Party | |
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Assumed office 3 July 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Ramdien Sardjoe |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Chandrikapersad Santokhi 3 February 1959 Lelydorp, Suriname |
| Political party | Vooruitstrevende Hervormings Partij (VHP) |
| Website | Party website (in Dutch) |
Chandrikapersad Santokhi (born 3 February 1959), also known as Chan Santokhi, is a Surinamese politician and former chief of police.
Chan Santokhi was born on 3 February 1959, in Lelydorp, in district Suriname (now known as district Wanica). He grew up in the countryside as the youngest in a family of nine children. His father worked at the harbor of Paramaribo and his mother worked as a shop assistant in Lelydorp.
After Santokhi obtained his vwo diploma at the Algemene Middelbare School highschool in Paramaribo, he received a scholarship to study in the Netherlands. From 1978 till 1982 he studied at the Police Academy of the Netherlands in Apeldoorn. After completing his study he returned to Suriname in September 1982 to work for the police. Since the age of 23, Santokhi worked as a police inspector in Geyersvlijt and Wanica until he was appointed in 1989 as head of the national criminal investigation department. In 1991 he was appointed chief commissioner of police.
In September, 2005, Santokhi was sworn in as Minister of Justice and Police on behalf of the Progressive Reform Party. His period in office was marked by a heavy crackdown on crime, in particular drug trafficking, and a strict, no-nonsense enforcement of law and order. This earned him the nickname sheriff, which he got from Dési Bouterse.
Santokhi who, as police commissioner, led the investigation to the December murders did in the start of his ministership a lot so that the December murders trial could finally commence. Exclusive for the December murders trial he had a heavily secured courtroom built in Domburg, Wanica. Because Santokhi was the impulse behind the trial, he became a much discussed matter of the main suspect in that trial, Dési Bouterse. Bouterse said on November 26, 2007, four days before the commencement of the trial, that Santokhi wanted to "imprison and kill him". Bouterse adduced that numerous previous attempts to "take him out" all failed and warned Santokhi to be cautious with his "intentions to eliminate Bouterse". At the moment, the December murders trial is still ongoing.
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