ANTWERP – 23-year-old Jonathan Pinas, a Belgian with Surinamese roots, was shot dead early on Sunday morning at an Antwerp disco during a traffic dispute. 59-year-old Steven Stoutenburg was arrested as a suspect. According to Belgian media, he is known in the criminal circuit and was suspected of the murder of Melvin Zoutkamp in Suriname in 2014. The Dutchman of Surinamese origin is also known in both Suriname and the Netherlands under the aliases ‘Buru’ or ‘Red’. He is the father of the equally infamous Amsterdam drug criminal Selwyn Stoutenburg (37).
The drama in Belgium took place around six in the morning in the parking lot of the Ikon discotheque, where the Surinamese ‘Sranang Fest’ was held. The victim, from the town of Geel, wanted to move his car to be closer to the exit. That was not to the liking of Stoutenburg and his entourage. They felt that the man in his twenties was driving too close to them and went to seek redress. What started as an altercation quickly turned into pushing and shoving.
One aimed shot
Stoutenburg pulls out a firearm and fires one targeted shot, hitting Pinas in the armpit. Despite resuscitation efforts, he later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. According to family and friends, he was a quiet man who had no connection with the criminal world. This has also been confirmed by the Belgian police. Jonathan Pinas would have become a father for the second time within a month and a half.
Stoutenburg immediately fled after the incident. Belgian police managed to arrest him a few hours later during a raid on a home in nearby Lint, south of Antwerp. His wife and a minor son were also arrested. Their exact role in the violent crime is still being investigated.
With the arrest of Stoutenburg, an old unsolved Surinamese murder case is revived. Twelve years ago, on July 3, 2014, his name surfaced as the main suspect in the murder of Melvin Zoutkamp in Paramaribo. That fatal shooting was also the result of an alleged traffic dispute that got completely out of hand.
Involvement in drug trafficking
On the fatal day, 37-year-old Zoutkamp drove his car in the Kuldipsinghstraat around four o’clock in the morning. Another vehicle blocked his way, after which Zoutkamp got out to seek relief. Immediately afterwards, shots were fired at him from the other car. Although the immediate cause seemed to be a traffic conflict, media later reported that Zoutkamp was known in Suriname for his active involvement in the drug trade.
Ultimately, three suspects, namely Steven Stoutenburg, his son Selwyn and Terence de Vries, better known as ‘Slice’ – and also a serious criminal with a Surinamese background – were identified by the Surinamese police. They were heard in 2015, but the case was ultimately dismissed due to lack of conclusive evidence. The perpetrators of Zoutkamp’s murder have not yet been brought to justice.
Stoutenburg and the others continued to be involved in serious crime afterwards. Co-suspect De Vries was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison in absentia for drug trafficking in 2018 and was arrested in April 2023 after a manhunt in the Dominican Republic and extradited to the Netherlands. And Selwyn, Stoutenburg’s son, was sentenced in August 2024 in the Netherlands to a prison sentence of three years and four months for involvement in large-scale cocaine smuggling and prohibited possession of weapons.
