Paramaribo, Suriname – The family of Lachmipersad Frederik “Fred” Ramdat Misier, the former head of state of Suriname who passed away, has voiced intense outrage over the theft of his bronze bust from its public pedestal along Grote Combéweg. In an official letter addressed to current Surinamese President Jennifer Simons, the family is calling for immediate, decisive intervention from national law enforcement and governmental authorities to resolve the case.
Crafted by renowned local artist Erwin de Vries, the bust was forcibly ripped from its mounted base and stolen sometime between the evening of April 11 and the morning of April 12, according to initial official reports. Local law enforcement has already launched a full criminal investigation into the incident, though no suspects have been named publicly as of yet.
For the Ramdat Misier family, the theft extends far beyond the loss of a single piece of public art. They frame the act as a deliberate insult to the dignity not only of the former president, but of the entire Republic of Suriname. The bust has long stood as a central public symbol of the nation’s commitment to constitutional governance, the rule of law, and unbroken national continuity, carrying deep cultural and political meaning for Surinamese society.
Beyond this specific incident, the family has also raised alarm over what they identify as a growing pattern of targeted thefts of national monuments across Paramaribo’s historic city center. These repeated thefts, they argue, systematically erode Suriname’s irreplaceable cultural heritage and erode the collective historical memory that binds the nation together.
In their formal appeal to the Simons administration, the family is demanding that authorities deploy all available resources to three core priorities: recover the stolen bust as quickly as possible, return it to its original public pedestal, and track down all individuals responsible for the theft to hold them accountable through the national judicial system.
The family closed their letter by stating they hold an expectation that law enforcement and government leaders will treat this high-profile case as a top law enforcement and cultural priority for the nation.