Desi Bouterse
| Dési Bouterse | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 9th President of Suriname | |
|
Assumed office 12 August 2010 |
|
| Vice President |
Robert Ameerali Ashwin Adhin |
| Preceded by | Ronald Venetiaan |
| President pro tempore of the Union of South American Nations | |
|
In office 30 August 2013 – 4 December 2014 |
|
| Preceded by | Ollanta Humala |
| Succeeded by | José Mujica |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Desiré Delano Bouterse 13 October 1945 Domburg, Surinam |
| Political party | National Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Ingrid Figueira (divorced) Ingrid Waldring (1990–present) |
| Children |
Dino Peggy Jen-ai |
| Religion | Pentecostalism |
Desiré Delano "Dési" Bouterse (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbʌutərsə]; born 13 October 1945) is a Surinamese politician who has been President of Suriname since 2010. From 1980 to 1987 he was Suriname's de facto leader after conducting a military coup and establishing military rule.
Bouterse is the chairman of the Surinamese political alliance Megacombinatie ("Mega combination") and the leader of the National Democratic Party (NDP), which is part of the Megacombination. On 19 July 2010, Bouterse was elected as President of Suriname with 36 of 50 parliament votes and on 12 August 2010 he was inaugurated.
Bouterse is a controversial figure, held responsible by some for numerous human rights violations committed during the military rule in the 1980s. Most notable was the December murders in 1982 of fifteen leading opposition figures. (He was prosecuted in these murders and a trial was initiated, but in 2012 the National Assembly extended amnesty to him.) He is also suspected of having directed the Moiwana massacre in 1986 during the civil war by the Maroons, led by his former bodyguard.
In 2000, Bouterse was sentenced in absentia in the Netherlands to 11 years imprisonment after being convicted of trafficking 474 kilos of cocaine. Bouterse always protested his innocence; he claimed that the star witness in the case, Patrick van Loon, was bribed by the Dutch government.
According to released in 2011, Bouterse was active in the drug trade until 2006.Europol has issued an arrest warrant for him. As Suriname's president, he enjoys national immunity from arrest in his country. Because Bouterse was convicted of the drug offense before his election in 2010 as Head of State, he enjoys no international immunity on these charges.
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