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Chaos
in Suriname Parliament
over
Khan's deportation
Saturday,
July 1st 2006
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Chaos erupted in the Suriname National Assembly on Thursday afternoon as Members of Parliament (MPs) demanded answers from the government on the events surrounding Roger Khan's deportation from the country. One MP referred to President Ronald Venetiaan as a "worthless President" after the Head of State had remarked that it seemed as if Parliament wanted to defend criminals. Police, on orders from the Speaker, Paul Somohardjo, put two other MPs out of the Parliament Chambers.
The manner of Khan's deportation has been widely criticized by observers who have said he should have been sent to Guyana rather than Trinidad and Tobago. Suriname Justice Minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi told Surinamese reporters that Khan was freed of all the charges he was being held in that country for and as a result he was deported since he was an illegal alien.
Chaos in Suriname Parliament According to reports from Suriname newspaper de Ware Tijd, MP Ronnie Brunswijk said that if Suriname, as a Caricom member state, allowed a suspect to be taken from a member state by Americans it was perpetrating an Aristide-like spectacle. This was a reference to the role the United States played in forcing former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide into exile.
The men are not criminals. They were chased out by Army and Police. The parliamentarian said that if Suriname had wanted to deport Khan it could have simply done so at the border at Nickerie. He said the government had the right to extradite or deport illegal suspects but the correct legal procedures must be followed. Brunswijk condemned reports that Khan was blindfolded and carried off by American agents to Trinidad, noting that this was not in accordance with the law. He stressed that he wanted no part of the way it happened, but this did not mean that he supported criminals.
The MP said each suspect in custody had rights and in this case there had been a violation of human rights. Another MP, Kenneth Moenne said that by allowing American agents to execute judicial tasks in Suriname, the President had endangered the security of the country. The MP added that the episode had also damaged relations between Suriname and Guyana. Moenne said that in such a globalised world the entire Caricom now knew what had happened in Suriname. PVF MP Jiwan Sital posed a question as to whether President Venetiaan had given permission to the Americans to take Khan out of the Santo Boma penitentiary. According to the newspaper report, the question angered the President who was perturbed at the MP's determination to know in detail what happened. Venetiaan, according to the newspaper, then accused the MPs of wanting to protect criminals, but Sital in response demanded that the President take back his words. "If he does not, he is a worthless President," the MP was quoted in the newspaper as saying loudly. The President did not retract his statement, the newspaper said. |
