The international law enforcement cooperation agency Interpol has for a second time turned down a request to issue a so-called Red Notice for former Surinamese Finance Minister Gillmore Hoefdraad, according to an official correspondence sent by Interpol to Suriname’s prosecutor general.
Details of the rejection were confirmed by Hoefdraad’s legal defense team, which confirmed that Interpol reviewed the renewed request from Suriname to add the former minister to its global wanted person alert system. After assessment, the agency once again found no justifiable grounds to approve the request. This marks the second time Suriname’s attempt has failed, after Interpol revoked an earlier global alert for Hoefdraad months prior.
Murwin Dubois, a lead defense attorney representing Hoefdraad, told local outlet Starnieuws that this second rejection sends a clear signal: Interpol continues to harbor serious doubts about the objectivity of the criminal prosecution against the former minister. Interpol operates under strict core rules designed to prevent the agency from being drawn into legal matters that carry potential political motivations, a policy that guided the agency’s decision in this case.
When Interpol rejected Suriname’s first request, it explicitly justified its ruling by concluding that the prosecution against Hoefdraad carried political motives. The agency also noted that Suriname’s Public Prosecution Service failed to submit sufficient documentation and solid legal evidence to disprove that conclusion. Today, Dubois argues that the string of rejections should prompt a full, critical re-evaluation of both the entire criminal case against Hoefdraad and the procedural practices that have guided the prosecution to date. He pointed to longstanding criticism from multiple independent jurists and defense lawyers over flaws in key parts of the investigation and legal process.
The attorney further called on Suriname’s Public Prosecution Service to release full transparency about all requests submitted to Interpol in the Hoefdraad case, as well as all responses received from the agency. “Suriname’s society has an inherent right to know the full details of proceedings in a case brought in the name of the Surinamese state,” Dubois argued.
As of this report, the Public Prosecution Service has not issued any official comment on Interpol’s latest rejection. Beyond the short formal notification sent to the prosecutor general, Interpol has not released any additional supporting documentation or public explanation of its second rejection.