On August 15, 1980 President Johan Ferrier of Suriname was forced out of office by the military regime that had seized power in the February 1980 Sergeants' Coup, and the civilian prime minister Henk Chin A Sen took over the presidency as well, tightening the military's grip under army commander Desi Bouterse. After the February 25, 1980 coup that overthrew Prime Minister Arron, Ferrier, who had been head of state since independence in 1975, was initially retained as president while a largely civilian cabinet under Chin A Sen governed alongside the National Military Council. Tensions between the nominal civilian leadership and the military, and Ferrier's resistance to aspects of military rule, led to his removal.
On August 15, 1980 Ferrier resigned under pressure and Chin A Sen assumed the presidency in addition to the premiership. Ferrier was not harmed and later left for the Netherlands.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Johan Ferrier, forced out on August 15, 1980 by the military regime; sources describe him as resigning under pressure, with the dataset coding his fate as placed under house arrest, and he was not physically harmed.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Johan Ferrier (president forced out)
Henk Chin A Sen (prime minister who also became president)
Desi Bouterse (army commander holding real power)
Sources
On 15 August 1980, after President Johan Ferrier resigned, Chin A Sen assumed the post of President as well, having been installed as Prime Minister after the February 1980 Sergeants' Coup that brought Desi Bouterse and his military council to power.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, Henk Chin A Senopen source ↗
President Johan Ferrier was eventually forced out of office in August 1980, and several months after the coup by Bouterse most of the political authority transferred to the military leadership, with the titular presidents until 1988 essentially army-installed by Bouterse.
The first officeholder was Johan Ferrier, who had served as governor since 1968, and he resigned as president in August 1980, several months after the coup, from which point until 1988 the presidents were essentially army-installed puppets of army commander Desi Bouterse.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, President of Surinameopen source ↗
After the coup a state of emergency was declared, the constitution was suspended, parliament was disbanded, and the civilian government led by Dr. Chin A Sen was retained but reorganized, with Bouterse consolidating his grip on power as the military held de facto authority.
SOURCE REVIEWEDCenter for Systemic Peace, Suriname Polity reportopen source ↗
Editorial Note
Fate coding nuance: the dataset codes Ferrier's fate as placed under house arrest, while the sources consulted this turn describe him as resigning under pressure in August 1980 and later leaving for the Netherlands; the sources do not explicitly confirm a house arrest, so the dataset's coding is enriched as given while flagging that the available sources describe a forced resignation rather than a documented house arrest. Either way, Ferrier was not physically harmed. Arc link: this August 1980 removal follows directly from the February 25, 1980 Sergeants' Coup (enriched in batch 32); it marks the point where the military dropped the last independent civilian head of state, with Chin A Sen taking both the presidency and premiership as a figurehead under Bouterse. Coding note: the dataset labels this a palace coup, accurately, as it was an internal consolidation within the post-coup order rather than a fresh seizure. Aftermath: Chin A Sen was himself dismissed by Bouterse in February 1982, and the regime carried out the December 1982 murders of opponents, separate later events; Ferrier lived in the Netherlands until his death in 2010.
Cross-Reference
Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Johan Ferrier, forced out on August 15, 1980 by the military regime; sources describe him as resigning under pressure, with the dataset coding his fate as placed under house arrest, and he was not physically harmed..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; placed under house arrest. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“AROUND THE WORLD; Sadat Asks Begin to Resume Negotiations on Palestinians,” August 19, 1980
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →