On October 27, the Suriname cantonal court formally dismissed all three legal claims filed by former Telecommunications Authority Suriname (TAS) director Wendy Jap-A-Joe against the regulatory body, following a ruling overseen by Judge Robert Praag and explained in detail by press judge Alida Johanns during a public briefing on Monday.
Jap-A-Joe had based her legal challenge on the first clause of her employment contract, arguing that she retained full executive authority to act as TAS’s director indefinitely until a formal successor was officially appointed. However, the court ruled this interpretation of her employment terms was legally invalid, citing clear, pre-existing frameworks laid out in Suriname’s Telecommunications Facilities Act. Per Article 2 of the legislation, TAS directors serve fixed five-year terms, while Article 4 explicitly outlines a structured interim governance protocol for periods when the director position is vacant: first, a designated deputy director assumes leadership duties, and if no deputy director is in place, the TAS Supervisory Board (Raad van Commissarissen, RvC) holds temporary full governing authority. The court emphasized that this formal legal provision eliminates any contractual claim Jap-A-Joe attempted to invoke to remain in post.
Two separate summary proceedings heard by the court on Sunday ruled fully in TAS’s favor, imposing strict binding injunctions on Jap-A-Joe. She is now prohibited from carrying out any official acts on behalf of the telecommunications regulator, with a cumulative penalty of 10,000 Surinamese dollars per violation, capped at a maximum total fine of 1 million SRD. She is also barred from entering TAS’s office premises; if found on the property, she and her accompanying security personnel must leave immediately, and the RvC is authorized to enlist law enforcement support to enforce this order if required, as the security staff are not formal parties to the legal dispute.
The court further mandated that Jap-A-Joe transfer a comprehensive set of TAS assets and materials to the authority within 24 hours, covering all administrative, operational, financial, legal and human resources files, official correspondence, formal decisions, ongoing project data, operating licenses and concessions, banking records, payment obligation documents, physical keys, official vehicles, work computers, mobile devices, and all associated account passwords. A recurring penalty of 5,000 SRD per hour of non-compliance with this handover requirement has been imposed, applicable to every item listed in the full court ruling.
Judge Johanns clarified that the three separate rulings issued this week also include a dismissal of Jap-A-Joe’s earlier defamation claim, in which she had demanded public retractions of media reports she alleged harmed her reputation. The court noted that the summary proceedings did not issue a final, binding ruling on the overall legal validity of Jap-A-Joe’s original employment contract, only confirming that the specific clause she cited to retain executive authority was no longer enforceable. Jap-A-Joe has been ordered to cover all legal costs associated with the three cases.
Persrechter: Wet voorziet in bestuur TAS na vertrek directeur
