PARAMARIBO, Suriname, Dec 2, CMC – The Public Prosecution Service (OM) has filed a complaint against Richano Santokhi, son of President Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhithe following remarks he made during an interview with a radio station in the Netherlands.
The spokesman for the OM, Joëlle Zaalman, confirmed that the complaint had been made against Santokhi, who had been “immediately suspended” from his position at the Surinamese Consulate General in Miami last month.
Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation Minister, Albert Ramdin, had said then that Santokhi received a letter from the ministry in which he was informed that he did not have permission to do the interview with Radio Awaaz that had been announced earlier.
“He has received that warning. He has received the information that he is not allowed to give such an interview because he did not follow the procedure, Ramdin said, adding that Embassy official was told that if he continued with the interview without the express permission of his direct superior, the consul general in Miami, he would be acting in violation of the Personnel Act.
He would also be acting in violation of the code of conduct that he signed upon his appointment in Miami. Santokhi is a civil servant at the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In the interview with Radio Awaaz, Santokhi stated that he no longer works at the consulate, is no longer employed by the government, but is an employee of a private company in New York.
Ramdin said the statements Santokhi made regarding the head of state are “absolutely unacceptable, and besides the truth, not part in the local media as saying that he will be having a with the President Santokhi on Tuesday and “then a decision will be made”.
CMC/af/2024