PARAMARIBO – “Suriname gave inaccurate information about the Pikin Saron incident to the Organization of American States,” said defense attorney Milton Castelen in court on Friday. The attorney who along with Murwin Dubois, Pamela Karg, John Ferdinand and Derrick Veira represents the six defendants explained that Surinamese officials claimed that two men were gunned down because they had killed four police officers. He made it clear that it is not true that four policemen were killed and that a secret procedure has been initiated to compel Suriname to explain why false information was  given to an international organization. “It is a secret procedure,” said Castelen. Many members of the Indigenous communities showed up at Friday’s trial. Relatives of the defendants, village chiefs and representatives of the Association of Village Chiefs in Suriname (VIDS) also attended the trial to express their support. Audrey Christiaan who is an activist for Indigenous rights told Times of Suriname that she and five other people were not allowed to enter the courtroom because there were too many people inside. “There must be no limit to the number of people that are allowed to attend a public trial,” said Christiaan. Cylene France, director of the VIDS Bureau, told Times of Suriname that she was shocked to hear that Suriname had provided false information to the OAS. “This is unacceptable,” said France who added that the VIDS also provided information to institutes and the United Nations. The VIDS also sent a letter to the Surinamese government but never received a reply. France deemed it regrettable that the state did not respond because “this leaves many questions unanswered,” said France who made it clear that she would spare no efforts in making sure that the six defendants get an independent and a fair trial. “I hope that the state will not delay this trial,” said France…[+]