Around 300 people gathered outside the Surinamese consulate in Amsterdam on Tuesday to protest against a law granting amnesty to people involved in the December Murders.

Police say around 250 people took part in the march to the consulate, where they were joined by more protesters.

Organiser Natascha Adama said the march was a protest against the loss of democracy in the former Dutch colony.

The Surinamese parliament adopted the amnesty law at the beginning of April; it grants President Desi Bouterse immunity from prosecution for his part in the murder of political opponents in the early 1980s.

The law is extremely controversial as Bouterse is currently on trial for his part in the extra-judicial killings. On December 8 1982, 15 opponents of the military regime led by then-army commander Bouterse were dragged from their homes and taken to Fort Zeelandia and murdered.

Bouterse is the chief suspect in the case and the public prosecutor is scheduled to begin his summing up on 13 April.
 

(jric)
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