(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – Accusations by former Speaker of Parliament Indra Djwalapersad on drugs transports from Guyana to Suriname will be investigated. If the accusations are unjust the state will file a slander suit against Ms. Djawalapersad, says national security chief Melvin Linscheer to de Ware Tijd. Djawalapersad’s accusations on radio were carried by Dagblad Suriname yesterday. The politician had based her accusations on an interview of then Guyanese police chief of Berbice, Steve Merai who had visited his Surinamese counterpart Stanley Benschop on 30 December last. Linscheer wrote the Prosecutor General insisting on an in-depth investigation on possible involvement of the armed forces in drugs transports as claimed by the politician. ‘These are very serious accusations and if the investigation proves no wrong doing on the side of the army, we will in turn file a slander suit,’ Linscheer says. He blames Djawalapersad for not taking her information to the prosecutor-general as she should have as law-abiding citizen. The security chief says he knows of Merai’s interview on the Surinamese radio, but he never heard him saying anything about drugs transports and involvement of Surinamese armed forces.
The Constitution knows only two armed forces, the army and the police, none of which get direct orders from the President. Djawalapersad’s accusations not only slander the armed forces, but also all security forces with special assignments. Linscheer thinks that the accusations are politically motivated. ‘This is politics, aimed at hurting the President, but at the same time several other state bodies are stained.’ Djawalapersad should have known better since she was Speaker of Parliament. ‘This is criminal intent, having information at your disposal and not taking it to the right authorities,’ the security chief says, arguing that the accusations are probably meant to discourage Special Forces in charge of drugs and crime fighting. He points to the achievements since the Bouterse Administration came to office.
