Ruben Rozendaal

Ruben Rozendaal (21 September 1956 – 1 December 2017) was a Surinamese soldier who was involved in the military coup of 1980 in Suriname and suspected in the December murders.

Events According to the statement of Fred Derby, union leader and the only survivor of the December murders, Rozendaal was one of the four soldiers who retrieved Derby from his home on the night of 7 to 8 December 1982. Rozendaal mentioned that:

"I saw him at half past five in the morning on December 8. (...) He lied to us that a coup would take place, and the people therefore had to be picked up. I believed him then, but in retrospect it turns out not to be true. This was not a military action, just brutal and cowardly murder. The people were taken out of bed and to Fort Zeelandia and were treated like animals."