PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC – The Public Prosecution Service is seeking a 12 -month suspended jail sentence as well as a three-year probationary period for seven police officers on trial in relation to the so-called Pikin Saron case.
The prosecution has argued that the officers used disproportionate force during the unrest in Pikin Saron on May 2, 2023, resulting in the deaths of Martinus Wolfjager and Ivanildo Dijksteel.
A police station was destroyed by fire, and at least 10 trucks transporting wood were set ablaze as rioting took place in the village of Pikin Saron, an indigenous town of Kalina Amerindians in the Para District in Suriname.
For years, the indigenous people have complained that concessions and mining rights are granted in their traditional living space by the government to individuals and companies without the residents being consulted.
They also said that the indigenous villages in the area do not benefit from the local economic activities, citing high unemployment there.
“Police officers are expected to exercise self-control, especially since they are trained in arrest tactics,” prosecutor Vijantimala Panchoe said as she made her closing arguments. The defence, led by attorneys Benito Pick and Irvin Kanhai, will present its closing arguments on March 10.
But the officers maintain that they believed the shooting was necessary due to the unrest and that Wolfjager and Dijksteel were trying to flee. However, the coroner’s report shows that the gunshot wounds were not consistent with people fleeing the scene, and the prosecution said that this establishes that the two men no longer posed an immediate threat.
The forensic pathologist also concluded that both men could have survived if they had received timely medical attention. They died from severe blood loss, having been forced to lie on the ground in a particular position for extended periods.
During a crime scene reconstruction, it was also established that both men were already on the ground when they were shot at close range by the officers with a witness telling the court that Wolfjager, just before he was shot, said to the officers “I’m going to get you, I’m going to get you, I’m going to get you.”
The officers alleged that Dijksteel had a hand grenade in his pocket and made a motion as if he were about to throw it. One of the officers then allegedly stepped on his wrist.
“The police rescued 27 hostages that day, risking their own lives in the process, but it wasn’t necessary to use this level of force,” the prosecutor said, noting, however, that this does not mean that disproportionate force had to be used.
and then 