Dési Bouterse, Surinamese general and politician, 9th President of Suriname
Desiré Delano "Dési" Bouterse (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈdesɪ ˈbʌutərsə]; born 13 October 1945) is a Surinamese military officer, politician, and convicted murderer and drug trafficker who served as President of Suriname from 2010 to 2020. From 1980 to 1987, he was Suriname's de facto leader after conducting a military coup and establishing a period of military rule. In 1987, Bouterse founded the National Democratic Party (NDP). On 25 May 2010, Bouterse's political alliance, the Megacombinatie ("Mega combination"), which included the NDP, won the parliamentary elections, and on 19 July 2010, Bouterse was elected as President of Suriname with 36 of 50 parliament votes. He was inaugurated on 12 August 2010.Bouterse is a controversial figure, held responsible by some for numerous human rights violations committed during his military rule in the 1980s. Most notable was the December murders in 1982 of 15 leading opposition figures. He was prosecuted for the murders, and a trial was initiated, but the National Assembly extended amnesty to him in 2012. After the trial was forced to continue, Bouterse was sentenced to 20 years in prison on 29 November 2019. He is also suspected of having directed the Moiwana massacre in 1986 during the civil war by the Maroons, led by his former bodyguard, Ronnie Brunswijk.
On 16 July 1999, Bouterse was sentenced in absentia in the Netherlands to 11 years' imprisonment after being convicted of trafficking 474 kg (1,045 lb) of cocaine. Bouterse always claimed innocence; he claimed that the star witness in the case, Patrick van Loon, was bribed by the Dutch government. According to WikiLeaks cables released in 2011, Bouterse was active in the drug trade until 2006. Europol has issued a warrant for his arrest. At that time, he could not be arrested in Suriname, because he was still president. Because Bouterse was convicted of the drug offense before his election in 2010 as head of state, he risks arrest as soon as he leaves Suriname.In 2019, Bouterse was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his executions of 15 political opponents in 1982.