Frederik Marinus Emanuel Derby (March 31, 1940 – May 19, 2001) was a
Surinamese politician and trade unionist. He was the only survivor of the
December murders
The December murders (Dutch: ''Decembermoorden'') were the murders on 7, 8, and 9 December 1982, of fifteen prominent young Surinamese men who had criticized the military dictatorship then ruling Suriname. Thirteen of these men were arrested on De ...
. In the years before his death he fought for an investigation into these events, and he told what had happened to him in
Fort Zeelandia.
Biography
Derby was born in the district of
Para, on the site of a former plantation,
Berlijn Berlijn may refer to:
* the Dutch name for Berlin, the capital city, a municipality, and a state in Germany.
* Dick Berlijn (1950), a Dutch general
* Berlijn, Suriname, a village
{{disambiguation, geo, surname ...
. In 1954, he left as foster carer to
Paramaribo
Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname' ...
. He attended the secondary school, and received the certificate for teacher. Then he became a teacher at a technical school. In 1968, he was a trade unionist, and was involved in the establishment of the Confederation
C-47 in 1970. He joined the
Nationalist Republican Party (PNR), which sought the independence of Suriname and sat on behalf of that party from 1973 to 1977 in the Parliament of Suriname.
On the night of 7 to 8 December 1982, he was arrested by soldiers and taken to Fort Zeelandia. The next day, he was the only one of those arrested released, according to his own words on the initiative of
Dési Bouterse
Desiré Delano "Dési" Bouterse (; born 13 October 1945) is a Surinamese military officer, politician, convicted murderer and drug trafficker who served as President of Suriname from 2010 to 2020. From 1980 to 1987, he was Suriname's ''de fact ...
. Derby emerged as a strong opponent of Bouterse and fought in the last years of his life for an investigation into the December murders. On December 8, 2000, he first told what had happened. On December 8, 1982, he had also told his story in the documentary ''The dilemma of Derby'', by Yvette Forster.
Derby founded in 1987, along with Siegfried Gilds the
Surinamese Labour Party (SLA). Through the SLA, he was involved in the government of
Ronald Venetiaan. He was a great opponent of the involvement of the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...
in Suriname and was afraid that it would be mainly
Indo-Surinamese
Indo-Surinamese, Indian-Surinamese or Hindustani Surinamese are people of Indian origin who are nationals of Suriname with ancestry from India and the wider subcontinent. Their ancestors were Indian indentured workers brought by the Dutch and t ...
businessmen who would take over the
service sector in Suriname.
Derby was married and had seven children. He died at the age of 61 in Paramaribo to a cardiac arrest during a game of football.
References
* : ''De arbeiders zijn me heilig. Fred Derby, vakbondsleider en politicus : een biografie'', Uitg. Amrit, Den Haag 2010. ()
External links
*
Fred Derby about the December murders
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derby, Fred
1940 births
2001 deaths
People from Para District
Surinamese educators
Surinamese politicians
Surinamese trade unionists
December murders
Surinamese Labour Party politicians
Members of the National Assembly (Suriname)
Nationalist Republican Party (Suriname) politicians