Former Suriname President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, who investigated the 1982 killings of political opponents that left a lasting scar on the South American country, has died at 67, AP reported on March 30. Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons confirmed the death in a statement posted on social media, and said his years of service in various public roles would be remembered. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Santokhi was also known as “Chan.” He led Suriname as president from 2020 to 2025 after serving in earlier government roles, including as minister of justice and police from 2005 to 2010. After AP’s report of his death, regional and international leaders added statements of mourning. Prime Minister Rob Jetten of the Netherlands wrote on X that he was “grieved and shocked by the sudden passing” and said Santokhi had meant a great deal to Suriname while “tirelessly” working to strengthen ties between the Netherlands and Suriname. The Netherlands is a former colonial power to Suriname.
In the Caribbean, the Caribbean Community, or Caricom, said it had lost a “dedicated regionalist” after Santokhi served as its chairman from July to December 2022. Guyana President Irfaan Ali described Santokhi on X as a “man of quiet strength,” writing that he served his people and country “with dedication and conviction.” Another line of tributes emphasized Santokhi’s role in Suriname’s long-running effort to confront violence from the era of military rule.
Santokhi became closely associated with the so-called “December killings,” AP reported, in which 15 political opponents of the military regime led by Desi Bouterse were shot and killed in December 1982. Santokhi, then a police commissioner, led the investigation into those killings. The case produced a criminal trial that began in 2007—about a quarter-century after the killings—when Bouterse faced sentencing. AP said Bouterse was eventually sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted twice but remained a fugitive until his death in late 2024.
AP said Bouterse accepted “political responsibility” for the killings while denying he was present during them. It also reported that even before the trial began, Bouterse accused Santokhi of wanting to imprison and kill him, reflecting a long personal and political rivalry. Santokhi’s political ascent was shaped by that same rise-through-the-state trajectory, including a later move into the Progressive Reform Party after the resignation of then-chairman Ramdien Sardjoe.
As president, Santokhi took over from Bouterse after inheriting what AP described as a bankrupt Suriname. He led the country to economic stability, AP said, in part supported by an International Monetary Fund program. However, the austerity measures used to comply with the program translated into major sacrifices for Surinamese people, including the phasing out of fuel, water and electricity subsidies.
Those subsidy changes helped spark political turmoil, AP reported. In February 2023, hundreds of demonstrators stormed Suriname’s Parliament to protest high fuel and electricity prices while demanding Santokhi’s resignation. Later political results also went against him: voters denied Santokhi a second term following the May 2025 general election.
Before he entered politics, AP reported that Santokhi led police investigations and built a reputation as a crime-fighter after cracking down on drug trafficking and other crimes. That earned him the nickname “The Sheriff.” AP said Santokhi’s record as a police officer and later as minister of justice and police paved the way for him to assume political leadership positions, including chairing the Progressive Reform Party from 2011 onward after Ramdien Sardjoe stepped down.