The Surinamese coup d'état of 1980, usually referred to as the Sergeants' Coup (Dutch: De Sergeantencoup), occurred on 25 February 1980, when a group of 16 sergeants (Dutch: groep van zestien) led by Dési Bouterse overthrew the government of Prime Minister Henck Arron with a violent coup d'état. This marked the beginning of the military dictatorship that dominated Suriname from 1980 until 1991. The dictatorship featured the presence of an evening curfew, the lack of freedom of press, a ban on political parties (from 1985), a restriction on the freedom of assembly, a high level of government corruption and the summary executions of political opponents.