Bouterse Defence Lawyers Deny His Involvement In Alleged Terrorist Plot

By Ivan Cairo
Suriname Correspondent 

PARAMRIBO, Suriname CMC – Lawyers for Dino Bouterse have denied that their client was involved in any terror plot and have accused the United States of fabricating evidence against the son of Suriname’s President, Desi Bouterse.

“Mr. Dino Bouterse is not, and never has been a supporter of any terrorist organization and never intended to render aid to such an organization.

“The charges alleged in the indictment were initiated, instigated and invented by the United States government without any involvement of any terrorist or cartel organization and are an insult to our client and the good people of Suriname,” the lawyers said in a statement here.

United States law enforcement officials Friday, announced that they had charged Bouterse of “attempting to support a terrorist organization”.

Manhattan District Attorney, Preet Bharara, said that Dino Bouterse, 41, who is already facing cocaine and weapons trafficking charges, was planning to support the Hezbollah, the Shi’a Islamic militant group and political party based in Lebanon, in launching attacks on the United States.

“Today we add an additional charge of attempting to support Hezbollah to Dino Bouterse’s alleged crimes connected to a cocaine-smuggling conspiracy. We will be relentless in our efforts to pursue and prosecute those who seek to support terrorist organizations,” he added.

If found guilty of the terrorism charge, the President’s son could face 15 years in prison, in addition to the  mandatory minimum term of 40 years in jail if he is convicted on the weapons and illegal drugs charges.

But in their statement, the attorneys said the case against their client “seems more about justifying a multibillion dollar national security apparatus rather than investigating actual terrorists and criminals.

“The government spent innumerable and valuable resources on snaring a high profile target completely unrelated to such activities and organizations”.

They said Suriname is a peaceful South American nation “with a long history of cordial relations with the US and its neighbours.

“Mr. Bouterse’s innocence will be maintained at trial”.

Bouterse was represented in court by Richard Rosenberg, Michael Hueston, Florian Miedel and Jose M. Arrufat-Gracia.

Bharara said that earlier this year in exchange for a multi-million pay-off Bouterse agreed “to allow large numbers of Hezbollah operatives to use Suriname as a permanent base for, among other things, attacks on American targets”.

The unsealed indictment further alleges that “in furtherance of his efforts to assist Hezbollah, Bouterse has supplied a false Surinamese passport for the purpose of making clandestine travel easier, including travel to the United States”.

The indictment gives a detailed description of the meetings and talks between Bouterse, a co-defendant and men who purported to be connected to a Mexican narcotics trafficking organization, who also claimed to have ties with Hezbollah, but who were in fact confidential sources to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The meetings which were audio- and video recorded allegedly took place in Suriname, Greece and Panama. Bouterse was arrested in Panama on August 29^th and subsequently extradited to the US.

Since Bouterse’s arrest opposition parliamentarians have called on President Bouterse to step down from office. But the president, who is himself facing a 1999 drug conviction in the Netherlands, and is one of 26 suspects in the derailed trial into the December 1982 murders of 15 of his political opponents, has sought to distance himself from his embattled son.

He has continuously said that his son’s problems were of a personal matter and not one that regards his functioning as head of state.

US authorities have labelled Dino Bouterse as a dangerous and seasoned narcotics trafficker who as recent as last July shipped 10 kilograms of cocaine from Suriname though the Caribbean into the US.

Fellow Surinamese national, Edmund Muntslag, 29, was arrested on the same indictment in Trinidad and Tobago, and is facing extradition to the United States.

Bharara said Dino Bouterse used his position as Head of Suriname’s Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) to assist individuals he believed were members of Hezbollah.