On November 11, senior Progressive Legislature (PL) faction leader Bronto Somohardjo, a sitting member of Suriname’s National Assembly (DNA), issued a public statement pushing back against the country’s Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie, OM) over its repeated public disclosures regarding his ongoing criminal case, arguing that the law enforcement body is misallocating public resources away from the country’s most pressing public safety crises. His remarks came as a direct response to the OM’s latest official announcement that it had formally submitted all relevant case files and a request to launch a full judicial preliminary investigation into Somohardjo’s legal matter to the office of the investigative judge. Somohardjo criticized the OM for using taxpayer funds to circulate updates on his individual case, noting that the agency had failed to extend basic professional courtesy by notifying his legal team in advance of the public announcement. While he acknowledged the OM’s statutory authority to process and communicate on active cases, the veteran parliamentarian emphasized that ordinary Surinamese citizens are far more preoccupied with the sharp rise in armed robberies, deadly shooting incidents, and pervasive public anxiety over eroding personal safety than the details of his personal legal proceedings. “The public does not want empty press releases; they want tangible, measurable results in the fight against rampant criminality,” Somohardjo stated. He went on to clarify that he fully supports the principle of fair, unbiassed judicial process, and has no interest in seeking special treatment or escaping accountability: his legal representatives are handling all procedural aspects of his case, and he will not evade a day in court. At the same time, he affirmed that he will remain vocal in speaking out against what he views as institutional missteps that undermine the public good. Separately, Somohardjo confirmed that during a recent internal plenary session of the National Assembly, lawmakers formally voted to task the chamber’s Legal Support Department with conducting a full formal review of the Prosecutor General’s recent refusal to submit general, aggregate public prosecution statistics to parliament for oversight. He framed the dispute as a core test of legislative authority and the constitutional right of elected representatives to conduct public oversight of law enforcement bodies on behalf of their constituents. “Every family in this country deserves to walk the streets without fear, earn a stable living to support their loved ones, and build a secure future for their children,” Somohardjo concluded. “I will never run from a judge, and I will never abandon the people who elected me to fight for those basic rights.”
Somohardjo: Volk wil resultaten tegen criminaliteit, geen herhaalde OM-berichten
