VZCZCXRO0830
PP RUEHGR
DE RUEHPO #0409/01 2682002
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 242002Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0394
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARAMARIBO 000409 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/CAR FOR JACKIE ROSHOLT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SNAR NS
SUBJECT: BOUTERSE RETRACTS SLANDEROUS STATEMENTS AGAINST 
JUSTICE MINISTER, BUT WILL APPEAL COURT DECISION 
 
REF: A. PARAMARIBO 323 
     ¶B. 2007 PARAMARIBO 176 
 
 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  Seen as a prelude to Suriname's 2010 
elections, an internal power struggle reached fever pitch 
this month as former military strongman Desi Bouterse engaged 
in commonly-used smear-and-taint tactics against Minister of 
Justice and Police Chandrikapersad Santokhi.  On September 
23, Bouterse complied with the court decision that he 
publically retract his earlier accusations that Santokhi had 
ties with drug criminals.  Santokhi had taken the battle to 
the courts, which on September 19 handed down the verdict 
that Bouterse must retract his comments.  Santokhi, a 
consistent counternarcotics ally of the United States, has 
had his public reputation as a crime-fighter tainted. 
Bouterse has announced he will appeal the court's verdict. 
This case is reminiscent of accusations Bouterse made against 
former Minister of Justice and Police Siegfried Gilds, which 
finally gained credibility after a Dutch drug investigation 
incriminated the former Minister.  With elections two years 
away, and Bouterse currently on trial for murder, no end to 
Bouterse's diversionary tactics is in sight.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
BOUTERSE: "OUR JUSTICE MINISTER IS A CRIMINAL" 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2. (U) Desi Bouterse, chairman of largest political party in 
Suriname (the opposition National Democratic Party, NDP), 
former military strongman, and the main suspect in the 
ongoing trial of the 1982 murder of fifteen political 
opponents (Ref A) has periodically stated that "he won't go 
down alone," and that he has damaging information on his 
bitter political enemy (Ref B), Minister of Justice and 
Police Chandrikapersad Santokhi. 
 
¶3. (U) On August 30, Bouterse unveiled a new attack on the 
Justice Minister, a consistent counternarcotics ally of the 
United States, when he announced that Santokhi's wife had 
purchased a home from suspected drug criminal August Adjoeba 
in November 2006 at a "below-market" price.  Bouterse 
provided the media with a copy of the deed of sale, which 
showed that the property, valued at SRD 75,000 (USD 26,785), 
was sold for SRD 18,000 (USD 6,428).  This sale showed that 
Santokhi is a "criminal himself," Bouterse claimed, and that 
Santokhi must have had some business connection with Adjoeba. 
 (Note:  Adjoeba was recently murdered in the Netherlands. 
This presumably drug/criminal-related incident was a 
prominent news story in Suriname. End Note). 
 
¶4. (U) Santokhi refuted Bouterse's claims by saying that his 
wife is from a "rich family," and that he was not aware of 
his wife's plans to buy the house from Adjoeba until after 
the sale was made.  He added that, after learning of the 
purchase, he did a background check and told his wife that 
Adjoeba was "a bit shady."  (Note:  Later, the media carried 
the story that Santokhi and his wife had long-standing 
marital problems, which could explain their separation of 
finances and lack of communication.  End Note). 
 
¶5. (U) On September 6, Bouterse continued his attack, 
claiming that Santokhi's relations with drug criminals dated 
back to when Santokhi was a police officer.  Bouterse also 
showed film footage of a mother recounting how her son had 
been killed (as a criminal) in the 1980s by Santokhi when he 
was Inspector of Police, and that although she had filed a 
complaint, it was never fully investigated. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
SANTOKHI:  BOUTERSE'S COMMENTS "SLANDEROUS, OFFENSIVE AND 
INSULTING" 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶6. (U) Following Bouterse's September 6 remarks, Santokhi 
responded that they were "slanderous, offensive and 
insulting" and filed a defamation suit.  In the suit, 
Santokhi requested Bouterse publish a retraction on the front 
page of all local newspapers.  On September 19, the courts 
handed down the verdict that Bouterse must retract in all the 
major media sources his statements about Santokhi.  Bouterse 
complied with the verdict on September 23, but announced his 
plans to appeal the court's decision. 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT.  The Santokhi/Bouterse affair dominated 
Surinamese news for two weeks.  Santokhi wished to cast this 
 
PARAMARIBO 00000409  002 OF 002 
 
 
controversy as a legal matter.  Bouterse, however, 
successfully set this as a battle for public perception -- 
which he may be winning, despite the court's verdict. 
Santokhi, regularly hailed for his energetic crime-fighting, 
has begun to lose his Teflon coating.  Post's review of media 
sources and internet sites showed that public opinion was not 
on Santokhi's side.  One reason for this may be that the case 
reminds the public too much of Bouterse's repeated 
allegations that former Minister of Justice and Police 
Siegfried Gilds had criminal ties, which were supported by a 
Dutch investigation that eventually incriminated the former 
Minister.  Credibility gained for Bouterse from that case may 
influence public opinion this time around.  It is too soon to 
tell, though doubtful, that Bouterse's retraction will change 
the public's siding with him in the short term.  Nor is it 
certain Santokhi will regain his image.  With the 2010 
elections just two years away, and Bouterse on trial for 
murder, Bouterse's smear-and-taint machine will surely stay 
on the roll.  END COMMENT. 
SCHREIBER HUGHES