PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC –A magistrate is to decide within a week whether or not Stephano ‘Pakittow’ Biervliet, the prominent activist behind last weekend’s protest that resulted in demonstrators storming the National Assembly and looting several businesses, will be released from police custody.
Biervliet was brought before the examining magistrate on Tuesday afternoon, with the public prosecutor and Biervliet’s attorney, Benito Pick, presenting their arguments before the court.
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) says he is accused of disturbance of public order, sedition, public violence, arson, aggravated theft, and aggravated assault. This is communicated by the Public Prosecution Service (OM).
One of his attorneys, Antoon Karg, told the Suriname online publication, Starnieuws that Biervliet is convinced of his innocence and has called for peaceful protest.
Karg said his client is grateful for the support from society and is in good health.
Meanwhile, of the 113 people detained following last Friday’s violent protests, 30 were immediately discharged, while 83 people were brought before the prosecutors on Tuesday. Of these, ten people, including juveniles, were freed.
Last Friday, thousands of demonstrators descended on the capital protesting the government’s policies, including removing subsidies on several items, including hydro and thermal energy, which the government said would save approximately US$10.9 million annually.
Natural Resources Minister David Abiamofo said that new electricity tariffs, introduced in 2021, would be phased out in three phases within two years.
President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, speaking at the resumption of the Parliament sitting where the national budget is being debated, reiterated that those involved in the action would be tracked down and will be brought to justice.
“All institutions of the rule of law are functioning. The home of democracy has been attacked, but democracy is functioning,” President Santokhi said, adding that the protest organizers had been informed beforehand that they would have been allowed to engage in peaceful protest.
But he said that the investigations so far have shown that this was not the case, and as a result, all individuals involved in the “escalation” will be held accountable.
While supporting the protest, several legislators and opposition parties have condemned the looting and violence that followed, adding that such scenes must never be repeated.
“Citizens have the democratic right to express their dissatisfaction because of the deteriorating living conditions of large parts of society. Suriname is almost no longer liveable. We are sliding down daily,” said Rabin Parmessar, the leader of the National Democratic Party (NDP) in the Parliament.
Meanwhile, the Inter-religious Council in Suriname (IRIS) urges parents and educators to clarify to their children that what occurred last Friday is “anarchy” and will never lead to solutions.
“On the contrary, this only works to the detriment of all attempts to improve the socio-economic and financial-economic situation in our country,” IRIS said, expressing its disgust at the organized looting, arson, and vandalism that occurred during the peaceful protest demonstration in Independence Square.
The IRIS is calling for call for calm and dialogue and is also urging the trade union movement, political parties, and other civil society groups to respect the rule of law at all times when exercising their democratic right to protest and to take responsibility to guarantee safety and to enable peaceful protest.
The Council called on the government to speed up the social measures for the poorest in society and that entrepreneurs should “support each other to look for ways to limit or empty the damage suffered together with the government.”
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