PARAMARIBO, Suriname– The Surinamese Association of Journalists (SVJ) is demanding the immediate release of the journalist, Mones Nazarali, whom it said had been detained by the authorities on Tuesday, World Press Freedom Day.
The SVJ said it is “shocked” at the arrest of Nazarari of Action Nieuws Suriname, who had been summoned by the police of the Nickerie district regarding a report he recently broadcast.
Police spokesman Milton Bishop said the reporter has since been charged with defamation, slander, and insulting two police officers. The police said the regional commander and another high-ranking police officer had filed a complaint against the journalist due to the broadcast.
Journalist Mones Nazarali, during his broadcast outside the police station (CMC Photo)
The CVJ said that freedom of expression and press freedom had been seriously affected by his arrest, adding that an independent judicial investigation was conducted into this incident.
The SVJ said that Nazarali has since been admitted to the hospital under police surveillance because his blood pressure and sugar levels had risen alarmingly.
Nazarali had recently broadcast a critical report on suspected corruption and incompetence in the Nickerie district police force. The report, which he did outside the police station, said the police were targeting poor people instead of hunting down hardened criminals or dangerous pirates who terrorize local fishers off the coast of Nickerie.
Nazarali referred to two incidents in which people were found hunting the Red Ibis, which is protected by law, in the Big Pan Wetlands area, which is also protected by law.
He reported that in one case, two prominent lawyers were allowed to pay a “minimal fine,” while in the second case, some men caught catching tilapia in the same Wetlands area had to pay a combined fine of SRD120,000 (US$5 500). The men had no license to fish there, and their catch was estimated at US$45.
The SVJ said that as is customary in a constitutional state, the journalist has exercised his fundamental right to publicly discuss a case he suspects is “possible injustice, arbitrariness, and corruption.
“The incident and recent events are a strong indication that in Suriname, the right to free speech and the freedom of the press is seriously endangered by the use of power. This is unacceptable,” the SVJ said.
It warned that the colonial muzzle laws, also used in the recent arrests of activists and critics of the government, have no place in a healthy democratic society.
These outdated colonial articles in the Criminal Code were created to protect governments, authorities, and specific individuals. They silence the public debate, silence critics, and create a culture of fear in society.
The SVJ said it also supports the international appeal of the United Nations to governments to respect press freedom and make use of modern civil law.
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