Surinamese President says his drug conviction is "almost a joke"

Surinamese President Desi Bouterse told reporters in Guyana on Monday his drug conviction in the Netherlands in 1999 is "almost a joke". And he refused to comment on his trial for murder of 15 Surinamese citizens in December 1982.

Bouterse was in Georgetown for talks with his Guyanese counterpart, Bharrat Jagdeo. Both leader discussed the building of a proposed bridge over the river that divides the two South American neighbours.

The Surinamese leader, who led two coups against the legitimate government of his country, was elected president after his party won the largest bloc of seats in the National Assembly in May with about 40 per cent of the vote. He negotiated an alliance with his political rivals to win the presidency.

In 1999 a court in the Netherlands tried Bouterse in absentia and found him guilty of helping orchestrate the shipment of 474 kilograms of cocaine from Suriname to the Netherlands in 1997. The ruling was upheld on appeal.

He has avoided jail because Suriname has no extradition agreement with its former colonial ruler.

"This so-called drugs case is almost a joke because the conviction was on the basis of the testimony of one witness. The man is still in jail for drugs in Belgium," he told reporters. He added, "The sentence has no substance."

He reiterated what he has always said, that the Netherlands orchestrated the case as punishment for his work on behalf of the people of Suriname.

"Once you choose to serve the interests of your people, attacks of this nature will come, even fabrications will come," he said.

The President also spoke the 1982 murder charges against him and some of his former colleagues. In the past he has accepted "political responsibility" for the murders but has denied any direct involvement.

"We will not touch it. It will remain in the courts," Bouterse told reporters. "We are ready to face the truth about things when they are brought to the court in a proper sense."

As president he is not required to testify, and if convicted he could potentially engineer a pardon and avoid a 20-year sentence.