Suriname: Court:" Murder trial against Suriname president must continue"

Murder Trial: Will Bouterse Finally Face Justice ?

A murder trial against Suriname's president for the 1982 deaths of political opponents is expected to resume soon after a military court ruled that an amnesty law is unconstitutional.

The court ordered that the trial of President Desi Bouterse resume by the end of the month in this South American country. The trial had been on hold since April 2012, when a parliament controlled by Bouterse's party approved an amnesty law.

"This is not only important for the relatives of the victims, this ruling is important for the entire country," lawyer Hugo Essed, a counsel for the relatives, told The Associated Press. "This shows Suriname is still a country with rule of law."

Essed said he expects that Bouterse will be sentenced on charges of murder in upcoming months. However, some relatives of the victims remained unconvinced.

"We cannot start celebrating yet," Sunil Oemrawsingh told reporters. "President Bouterse and his friends are in power. We have to expect they will once again put up obstacles in an attempt to sabotage the proceedings in court."

Bouterse did not attend Thursday's hearing. His lawyer, Irvin Kanhai, told reporters he still believes that only a constitutional court can review the amnesty law.

"I will discuss this situation with my client and go in appeal if necessary," he said.

A constitutional court was supposed to verify whether the amnesty law was legitimate, but such a court was never created. Four years later, the military court announced it had waited long enough.

"There is no sight of concrete actions by the government on when the court will be operational", said Judge Cynthia Valstein-Montnor, president of the military court.

She said local laws allow any judge to determine whether a law is in breach of the constitution. Valstein-Montnor said she found the amnesty law unconstitutional because Parliament approved it when the trial was ongoing and nearing its end. She also said the law violated of several human rights treaties that Suriname had signed in the past.

Bouterse and 25 allies from his time as a military dictator in the 1980s avoided trial until November 2007 on charges stemming from the abduction and summary execution of 15 prominent political opponents, an event known locally as the "December killings."

The former strongman returned to power in 2010 when he was elected president by parliament. Two years later, lawmakers passed an amnesty law and proceedings were put on hold in a decision that outraged human rights activists.

Bouterse, who was re-elected by parliament, has accepted what he called "political responsibility" for the killings by the military of the well-known journalists, lawyers and union leaders but said he was not present when the executions took place. Witnesses in the trial have disputed that claim.


Read more: Court: Murder trial against Suriname president must continue | Daily Mail Online

Suriname: China's Stake In Suriname: Why Is Beijing Interested In This Small South American Country? - by Patricia Rey Mallén

Little is known in the outside world about Suriname, a small country on the northern coast of South America. Wedged -- along with neighbors Guyana and French Guiana -- between Brazil and Venezuela, the old Dutch colony has stayed largely quiet and under the radar throughout some of the most turbulent episodes of recent Latin American history.

Desi Bouterse: Suriname's Former Dictator elected President

But it has certainly attracted the attention of natural-resource-hungry China. Suriname is blessed with bauxite (an aluminum ore), an unspoiled rain forest, which covers 80 percent of the country, and lots of available arable land. Only about half a million people live in Suriname, a territory the size of Florida. And China wants a piece of it.

The Asian giant has slowly but surely made its way into this forgotten corner of South America, with a surge of aid and low-interest loans, as reported by the New York Times. Suriname also has a sizable Chinese population -- estimated at about 10 percent of the population -- dating back to immigrants who arrived in the 19th century, as well as a number of recent arrivals, including those in the country illegally.

“Suriname is a lucky country, such [a] small population, so much land,” said the former Chinese ambassador to Suriname, Yuan Nansheng, who served in the country from 2009 to 2013. With the change of government in China in March, Yuan was replaced by Yang Zigang. But it appears new President Xi Jinping’s government will maintain its ties with the South American country -- indeed, Surinamese officials met with Xi during his visit to nearby Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday.

Suriname may actually need China. Since its erstwhile imperial paymaster, Netherlands, shuttered an aid program benefiting its former colony in 2010, China has become the top financial provider to Suriname. Figures are hard to obtain, but the Chinese embassy lists low-income housing, assistance for shrimp farming and an upgrade of the state television network as three of its principal projects in the country. Private investment has focused on transportation, with the China Dalian International Corp. (SHE:000881) providing some $6 billion to construct a deep seaport and new highways.

The website of the Chinese embassy in Suriname lists no new developments since 2009. Thus it is unclear what new investments have been made since then. The Suriname embassy in the U.S. did not reply to requests for interviews.

However, one expenditure made by China was military aid -- the Beijing government has donated $1.6 million in material and training to Paramaribo. “We want to provide convenience to the work of the Ministry of Defense and the Surinamese Army as they carry out their mission of safeguarding the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Yuan said back in 2009.

Still, the full extent and magnitude of China’s interest in this South American country is not entirely clear. Evan Ellis, a professor of national security studies at the National Defense University in Washington, argued that it is not so much that China has a particular interest in the country, but that it is just giving Suriname the same attention it has granted to the rest of natural-resource-rich South America. “It is not a matter of zeroing in [on Suriname], but just not overlooking it like the rest of the world is doing,” Ellis said.

Read full report : China's Stake In Suriname: Why Is Beijing Interested In This Small South American Country?

Belgium - The Battle of Waterloo June 18 - 1815 - Defeat or Victory?

Battle of Waterloo - June 18 1815  Wellington

Each year on June 18 the great Battle of Waterloo is recalled in what is now Belgium. On that day in 1815, Napoleon’s French army was defeated by a multinational force commanded by the Duke of Wellington. Since then, the phrase “to meet your Waterloo” has come to mean “to be defeated by someone who is too strong for you or by a problem that is too difficult for you.”

When it comes to our spiritual lives, some people feel that ultimate failure is inevitable and it’s only a matter of time until each of us will “meet our Waterloo.” But John refuted that pessimistic view when he wrote to followers of Jesus: “Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).

John weaves this theme of spiritual victory throughout his first letter as he urges us not to love the things this world offers, which will soon fade away (2:15–17). Instead, we are to love and please God, “And this is what he promised us—eternal life”

While we may have ups and downs in life, and even some battles that feel like defeats, the ultimate victory is ours in Christ as we trust in His power..

Read more: Defeat or Victory? | Our Daily Bread

Britain: Bank of England: economy will be hit hard if Britain leaves EU

The Bank of Englandhas issued a fresh warning that a vote to leave the EU in next week’s referendum risks knocking economic growth, pushing the pound sharply lower and sending shockwaves through the global economy.

Against the backdrop of jittery financial markets, the Bank alsorevealed its top policymakers had been briefed by staff on contingency planning for the referendum as it readies measures to prevent markets seizing up in the event of a leave vote next week.

Announcing its decision to keep interest rates at their record low of 0.5%, the Bank said the referendum on 23 June was the biggest immediate risk to UK financial markets, and perhaps those overseas, and that the current uncertainty was already denting spending. The pound has weakened in the run-up to the vote as opinion polls have pointed to a lead forthe leave vote and the Bank warned in minutes to its latest
rate-setting meeting that it would fall further in the event of Brexit.

“The outcome of the referendum continued to be the largest immediate risk facing UK financial markets, and possibly global financial markets,” said the minutes. In addition: “On the evidence of the recent behaviour of the foreign exchange market, it appears increasingly likely that, were the UK to vote to leave the EUsterling’s exchange rate would fall further, perhaps sharply.”

The minutes also noted recent comments on potential Brexit risks to global financial markets made by the US central bank as it left interest rates there on hold this week. The record of the Bank’s finalm rate-setting meeting before the referendum showed all nine members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep interest rates at 0.5%. That was as expected by financial markets and economists,given the impending vote.

The minutes said the MPC had been briefed on contingency planning for the referendum, including on the “more intensive supervision by the Prudential Regulation Authority of major financial institutions to ensure they had sufficient liquidity”.

The Bank said in the minutes that it was “well placed to address liquidity needs and support the functioning of financial markets”. In the minutes, policymakers noted a pick-up in uncertainty ahead of the vote, which could knock economic growth.

“The main focus of the committee’s policy discussion this monthconcerned the difficulty in identifying the underlying momentum in the domestic economy, amidst the influence on activity of uncertaintyrelated to the EU referendum,” the minutes said.

“Measures of uncertainty had increased further over the past month, with the UK a clear outlier internationally. And there had been growing evidence that uncertainty about the outcome of the referendum was leading to delays to major economic decisions that were costly or difficult to reverse.”

There had been a “sharp decline” in the value of commercial real estate transactions and in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity and reports of delayed business investment, the Bank said, echoing some private sector reports of spending decisions being deferred. The Bank also noted some possible influence oconsumer spending.

Regarding households, both car purchases and residential housing activity had declined, although it was difficult to isolate the extent to which these effects related to the referendum or a more general underlying slowing,” the minutes said. But the Bank added retail sales had been stronger than expected in April and that confidence indicators, as a whole, “remained healthy”.

Interest rates have been on hold at a record low of 0.5% for more than seven yearsExpectations of when rates might start to rise back to more normal levels have been shifted back amid signs the economy may have slowed recently. Some policymakers and economists have even discussed the prospect of interest rates being cut further. In the near-term much will depend on the referendum and market reaction to the outcome.

Read more: Bank of England: economy will be hit hard if Britain leaves EU | Business | The Guardian

NATO: Bulgaria Throws Wrench In Works Of NATO Black Sea Plans

Bulgaria's prime minister has said the country will not participate in a proposed joint NATO naval fleet in the Black Sea, slowing the momentum of a project that had thus far received broad support from NATO members and partners.

The move would “turn the Black Sea into a territory of war,” Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on Thursday, adding that he “wants to see cruising yachts, and tourists, rather than warships.”

“To send warships as a fleet against the Russian ships exceeds the limit of what I can allow,” Borissov told reporters in Sofia on Thursday, as quoted by Bloomberg. “To deploy destroyers, aircraft carriers near Bourgas or Varna during the tourist season is unacceptable.”

The Romanian-led proposal to create a sort of joint NATO Black Sea naval force has the support of Turkey, the United States, NATO headquarters, as well as non-NATO members Georgia and Ukraine.

Bulgaria's refusal could have several causes. For one, presidential elections are coming up and Borissov may be concerned that rival, more pro-Russia parties could use the move against him, said Dimitar Bechev, a Bulgarian political scientist and fellow at Harvard's Center for European Studies. "Most of all, I think he's concerned about domestic repurcussions," Bechev said in an interview with The Bug Pit. He added that Bulgaria could likely eventually join whatever NATO naval force emerges in an "under the radar" fashion

Bulgaria also has reasons to be skeptical of the merits of a NATO Black Sea force, added Michael Kofman, a military analyst at CNA Corporation and a fellow at the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute. He noted that Bulgaria is still participating in a new multinational NATO brigade to be based in Romania, sending 400 soldiers.

And Russia maintains an overwhelming superiority in the Black Sea, including such a strong sea-denial system of land-based anti-ship weapons that they could easily destroy any enemy forces in the sea. "There's little sense in further militarizing a space in which there is no chance of coming out on top with the correlation of forces. The consequence is a net security minus for member states. A NATO fleet has little viability and is unnecessary to achieve sea denial in the Black Sea. Bulgaria simply has more common sense than some others.," Kofman said in an interview with The Bug Pit.

It remains unclear what form a joint NATO Black Sea force might take, but Bulgaria's refusal to take part is a significant blow, politically if not militarily. The plan is nevertheless on the agenda of the upcoming alliance summit in Warsaw from July 8-9.

Read more: Bulgaria Throws Wrench In Works Of NATO Black Sea Plans | EurasiaNet.org

The Netherlands - Almere: Some bus services temporarily interupted after struck by stones from vandals - by RM

Mr. Franc Weerwind, Mayor of Almere: "we don't tolerate vandalism"

Almere Police have arrested two people who were apparently involved in acts of vandalism on some of Almere/s public transport bus routes.

At a recent press conference the Mayor of Almere, Mr. Weerwind, noted that these groups of vandals, mainly teenagers and young adults, appear to be from North-African (Moroccan) descent, and are known to the police

The Mayor also stated there will  additional security controls on the Almere buses and camera surveillance at bus stops. "We don't tolerate this kind of behavior in Almere and we will make sure to remove all anonymity from these vandals by exposing them", said Mr. Weerwind

He also appealed to the parents, relatives and friends of the vandals to challenge them in changing their unacceptable behavior.

The Almere City Council will debate the issue today, June 16, 2016,  at the request of the VVD political fraction in the Council.


Almere-Digest

NATO:- are Eastern Europeans and Baltic States Serving two Masters? and why is NATO catering to them?

Have they outlived their purpose ?

The NATO's chief on Monday said the alliance will agree this week to send four multinational battalions to the Baltic states and Poland as part of its response to Russian meddling in Ukraine and a series of alleged provocations by Russian military.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the troop surge in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland was meant to “send a clear signal that NATO stands ready to defend any ally”.

“We will agree to deploy by rotation four robust multi-national battalions in the Baltic states and Poland," he told a news conference ahead of a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels on Tuesday.

The Baltic states and Poland have expressed concern over perceived threats by Moscow, especially following the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and covert Russian military interventions on the side of Ukrainian separatists.

The announcement also comes after a series of risky military encounters between Russian and US military personnel.

In April, the US Navy vehemently protested what it described as a “simulated attack” by a Russian fighter jet, which flew within nine metres of a US destroyer that was conducting exercises in the Baltic Sea.

The Donald Cook was in international waters off the coast of Poland. Those waters are also close to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

Note EU-Digest: why is the US military  leadership of  NATO  playing with fire (and endangering the EU) to please Eastern European members of the EU. 

Whenever these same Eastern European members of the EU are asked to support EU programs related to the refugee crises or other important programs, they are usually un-supportive and take a very nationalistic and self-centered position. 

Hopefully Brussels and other EU member states will remind these Eastern European EU member states that they can not serve two masters. 

As the saying goes, you can't have your cake and eat it too ! 

The EU,  as a whole, needs to be reviewing the actual need for and value of NATO, a cold war creation, which has outlived its time and purpose within the context of the European Union.

Read more: NATO to deploy four battalions in bid to reassure Poland, Baltic allies - France 24