WHAT IS HENDRICK GAPPY HIDING?

Why can’t the register of voters be provided in electronic form?

Dear Editor,

Allow me some space in your paper to raise the issue of the refusal by Hendrick Gappy, Chairman of the Electoral Commission, to provide all political parties with the register of voters in electronic format despite a ruling by Judge Renaud directing him to do so on July 31st 2015.

Three weeks later, Mr Gappy is in contempt of court for his refusal to comply with Judge Renaud’s “writ of mandamus” which means “a court order to an inferior government official ordering the government official to properly fulfil their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion”.

What is baffling with Mr Gappy’s refusal to obey directives is that the court took very little time to debate the issue with Judge Renaud hinting even before the hearing on this matter that he thought it was straight forward and that the whole saga by Hendrick Gappy not to issue an electronic copy was frivolous and that it was wasting the court’s time.

Why do political parties need an electronic list?

The answer is that it would make their lives easier in cross checking, for example, potential errors such as duplicates across their respective districts, establishing different age groups they may wish to target in their campaign strategies as well as accurately monitor the movement of voters every time the lists are updated given population dynamics. A database would speed up not only statistical analysis but help in spotting potential errors or irregularities that may arise as lists are updated over time and particularly the final list used on the day of the elections.

In the absence of an electronic list, the above exercise can still be carried out manually by political parties but would require a massive data input exercise that would divert precious resources from political parties and thus impact on their chances of competing with the ruling party which, by all accounts, has already received an electronic copy of the voters’ register and receives regular electronic updates to the register.

Not only is this practise unfair but displays a clear bias of Mr Gappy towards the ruling parti Lepep. Political parties must contest Hendrick Gappy’s impartiality and refusal not only to be fair and just but to show no respect for the judiciary.

Inside sources suggest that Mr Gappy is being given political directives and is now facing difficult questions from his own commission members for balking at what appears to be a reasonable and straight forward request from political parties and a ruling from the country’s Supreme Court.

The latest we have learnt is that Hendrick Gappy is appealing against Judge Renaud’s decision and has even applied for a stay of execution of the order. In other words, he is asking that the court should allow him time not to implement the order until the appeal is heard.

Mr Gappy’s refusal to comply and provide an electronic list of voters begs a lot of questions. Why does he feel so threatened if political parties are able to swiftly process data pertaining to nearly 75,000 voters? Is it because the final list has been manipulated by his office and that when it will be issued, all parties except the ruling Lepep will have insufficient time to compare the final list against the list given earlier which would have been verified for correctness by ground and home visits?

Is there some major manipulation exercise engineered by Lepep and Hendrick Gappy to include fake names on the final list in order to rig the forthcoming elections by having people chosen by Lepep vote more than once (with effective solutions found to quickly remove the liquid used for finger dabbing) or use non Seychellois brought in with fake names and issued with local ID cards and to then vote for Lepep?

Why is Hendrick Gappy’s office informing the public that the only identification document that will be accepted on election day will be the national ID card, not a Seychelles passport? A passport is a much better proof of one’s ID as not only does it show who you are but also that you are also a national of Seychelles. A Seychelles passport check would be a deterrent against a non-Seychellois voting using a national ID card as one would assume that in such a case the foreign national would not have a Seychelles passport. Why is a passport check not mandatory throughout the registration, vetting and election process?

The questions must be raised NOW because the stakes are high at this point in time with Lepep dwindling massively in support from the population following recent public revelations of large cases of corruption and fraud by Lepep and its predecessor SPPF.

Could it be that the only way out now is rigging the electoral list, printing fake ID cards and stuffing the ballot boxes with Lepep votes from selected people by Lepep who vote more than once or non Seychellois brought in to vote using fake ID cards under the guise of being Seychellois voters? Is Hendrick Gappy plotting with Lepep and working against democratic principles and the desire of the people of Seychelles and its constitution?

The people have a right to know the truth and Hendrick Gappy must be brought under the spotlight by the judiciary for his behaviour which is totally out of line with his position of being impartial and his responsibility to ensure democratic practises and the rule of law are adhered to in Seychelles.

This case must be taken to the highest levels of justice as Seychelles and its people will be the biggest losers if we are to surrender to such an immoral and corrupted practise.

The people await the judiciary’s next move with bated breath …

Patrick Pillay

Party Leader, Lalyans Seselwa

Source:Today in Seychelles

COVER UP CONTINUES; NEXT GOVERNMENT WILL GET TO THE TRUTH

DEATH OF HARMON CHELLEN

Family asks President Michel to set up commission of enquiry

The Chellen family organised a symposium in Mauritius to denounce what they say is the "cover up" and the "shady dealings" in the Harmon Chellen affair.

By DB

"There's a lot of shady dealings and cover ups in Seychelles", Harmon Chellen's widow, Jayshree told Mauritian daily l'express on 18 August, a year to the day after she lost her husband in Seychelles.

The Chellen family lawyer organised a symposium on that day in Ebene, Mauritius, in a bid to raise awareness about the circumstances of Harmon Chellen's death and the way the police enquiry has been conducted.

Commenting on the judicial enquiry set up by the Attorney General to determine the cause of death of the Mauritian national, lawyer Rama Valayden said he was not happy with the way it was going as he did not believe it is the right forum to elucidate what has happened. Speaking to Le Defi newspaper, Mr Valayden said he was convinced foul play was involved in Mr Chellen's death and denounced what he called the contradictory versions of Seychellois police officers involved in the case.

At the symposium on Tuesday, Rama Valayden said an official letter will be sent shortly to President James Michel to ask him to set up a commission of enquiry to shed light on the death of Harmon Chellen.

Mr Chellen arrived in Seychelles on 13 August last year to attend the graduation ceremony of the Seychelles Tourism Academy as its guest of honour. On the day he was supposed to leave the country, Monday 18 August, his body was found by fishermen in Port Glaud not far from L'Islette. The police issued a statement on that same evening and attributed the death to suicide.

It emerged that a woman who worked as chambermaid at the Constance Ephelia hotel where Harmon Chellen was staying, had given a statement to the police complaining of sexual abuse on the part of Mr Chellen. It was said to be in this regard that the police detained him on the day of his departure.

On that day, the police went to the hotel to ask Mr Chellen to accompany them to the Port Glaud police station for questioning. The chambermaid travelled in the same car as Mr Chellen.

 The versions differ about what happened after. According to the officer in charge of the station, Mr Chellen was arrested but not detained in a cell because the police officers found out that he was a VIP. He was left in the enquiry room from where he was eventually said to have disappeared when he was left alone for ten minutes.

But a cleaner also told the court that she had seen Mr Chellen in a nervous state outside the police station and that he had sought her help to contact Flavien Joubert of the STA, adding that she did not help him because she did not know him.

It is unclear at what time all of this happened but the officer in charge of the police station said that after he discovered Mr Chellen's disappearance, he went out to look for him until he received a phone call on his mobile phone telling him Mr Chellen's body had been found in the sea.

The prosecution has asked the police to provide telephone records of the officer's mobile phone to verify his claims.

 "When his body was found, he had no shoes on but his socks were on. He had his trousers on but no belt and he was shirtless", Mr Valayden told the symposium on Tuesday. He claims that two commissions of enquiry were held in Seychelles in 2009 to shed light on the deaths in custody of Morris Hoareau and Mervyn Pierre and that it was found in both cases that their deaths were a result of police action. "In both cases, the men's trousers had been kept on but their belts removed, the shoes were removed but the socks kept on", Mr Valayden said, explaining that it was a "procedure" of the Seychelles' police.

"But they tell you, expecting you to believe that a man who could swim but who did not because of a skin problem, chose to take off his belt and keep his trousers on, remove his shoes and keep his socks on and take off his shirt to get in the sea to commit suicide. Then they tell you that even though they looked three times, they could not recover Mr Chellen's belongings", Rama Valayden said.

 He also showed a photo of Mr Chellen's body taken after his death to the audience. "There were six holes in his right hip. But the medical examiner in Seychelles did not see them when she did the autopsy", he claimed.

A counter autopsy was performed in Mauritius but the court in Seychelles hasn't so far been able to question the medical examiner about the inconsistencies. Last week, she was said to be out of the country while earlier was too ill to attend the court proceedings.

Mr Valayden also pointed out that two blood samples taken from Mr Chellen and tested by the same laboratory technician at the same laboratory in Mauritius had yet yielded different results. The one sent by the authorities in Seychelles showed Harmon Chellen to have 2mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood whereas the one sent by the authorities in Mauritius contained no alcohol.

The lawyer also denounced the lack of cooperation of the hotel where Mr Chellen was staying, saying that although they had requested copies of the CCTV cameras, when the time came for the hotel to submit them to court, "we found out that they had deleted everything so we could not verify what Mr Chellen was wearing when he left the hotel or whether or not he came back to the hotel before he died."

Rama Valayden said though that it has been established that during the time the chambermaid said she was being abused by Mr Chellen, "the records at the hotel show he was on the phone with his family in Mauritius. That phone call lasted 12 minutes".

Mauritius' former Foreign Affairs Minister Arvin Boolell was also present at the symposium and he said that he fully supported the Chellen's family's endeavour to seek the truth. He recalled his meetings with Ministers Adam and Morgan last year and said they had promised full support on the matter. "I believe Seychelles is a country where the rule of law is upheld and where institutions are respected and I hope President Michel will respond positively to the family's request that a commission of enquiry is set up", he told the Mauritian press.

The President's prerogative

Section 2 of the Commissions of Inquiry act says the following:

 (1) The President may, whenever he shall deem it advisable, issue a Commission appointing one or more Commissioners to inquire into

(a) the conduct of any officer in the public service; or

(b) the conduct or management of any department of the public service, or of any public or local institution; or

(c) any matter relating to the public service; or

(d) any matter of public interest or concern; or

 (e) any matter in which an inquiry would be for the public welfare.

Source: Today in Seychelles

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE AT MARIE LOUISE PRISON?

Samir Danny Alexis has written a letter to the Home Affairs Minister, Charles Bastienne, that his and other inmates` security, health and moral are being affected. The allegations described in the letter states that certain prison officers threatened Mr Alexis with a pistol and even promised to send him to Mahe in a body bag. With the disappearance of Mickey Lesperance from Coetivy prison these allegations are extremely serious as Mr Alexis now fears for his life. Whether Mr Bastienne takes any action is only known to him, however going by past actions of this current Government; nothing will be done.

As well as being assaulted and abused, Mr Alexis alleges that he is being denied access to medical attention. The Prison act states that “Every prison shall have a Medical officer of Prisons who shall be a government medical officer”.  According to the testimony of Mr Alexis this is not the case.

Another serious rights abuse indicates that “the food that we are presently eating is either rotten or expired”.  Mr Alexis in his letter ask Mr Bastienne to intervene as these situations are getting out of hand. The gravity of the situation is put into perspective with the recent death of Maxwell Duval from cancer and the cancer Roland Felicie contracted whilst serving their sentences on Marie Louise. The quality and safety of the drinking water has been questioned many times previously with no answer forthcoming from this Government.

The US Department of State Human Rights report for the year 2013 had concluded that “Prison conditions did not meet international standards, notably regarding overcrowding and sanitation. Little information was available on conditions at remote prison facilities on Coetivy Island and Marie Louise Island.” Everyone is in the dark at what is really happening on these two islands. Prisoners also have rights and above all as Mr Alexis states; they are human beings.

JAMES MICHEL THE BROKEN RECORD

As Finance Minister in 1990 James Michel was interviewed by Dr Denis Venter, Chief Researcher in Politics and International Relations at the Africa Institute. So for 25 years James Michel has been talking about the blue economy and the possibility of Seychelles having oil; nobody is fooled any more. The man just goes round in circles. James Michel talks a lot and rarely delivers; back then blue economy was called marine resources.

James Michel talks about the blue economy as if he invented it.  However, blue economics had its origin in the original manuscript submitted to the Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, as early as 1987 (Gonzales, Ernesto R.). This research document became the basis of the Proposed Magna Carta for a Comprehensive Development of Island Resources of the Philippines.

The Ex-Communist now turned capitalist in the interview shockingly stated that “a limit of 100 000 tourists per annum has been set to protect the environment and to ensure that societal strains are kept to a minimum.”  So what happened? Is he no longer a protector of the environment?

Further on in the interview he indicates that “In this regard we are very much encouraged by the results of oil exploration on the shelf south-east of Mahe, which includes the Topaze, Constant, Coetivy, and Fortune banks. Three oil companies have already shown interest and one will start test –drilling later this year. So we hope that during the next ten years or so the oil exploration project will eventually produce an industry strong enough to counterbalance the dependence on the fragile tourist trade.”

James Michel will say anything to stay in power; talking big and never delivering.

By A.Pierre

THEY ARE SCARED OF DOLOR; SEYCHELLES CORRUPTION

The whole population has been waiting to see what will happen to Dolor Ernesta, the former minister who has stolen government land for himself. Evidence has been provided for ten plots of government land taken by Dolor Ernesta: LD756 (6022sq m), LD757 (1961sq m), V10131 (2533sq m), V10143 (27sq m), V10331 (1044sq m), V11919 (6677sq m), V8761 (3214sq m), V17907 (200sq m), V8762 (1013sq m), V10153 (126sq m). See earlier articles.These pieces of land altogether represent over 23,000 sq metres of land.

It must be noted that in the latest revelation, which includes V8761, 3214 sq metres of land and V8762, 1013sq metres were given to Dolor Ernesta for free by Christian Lionnet, then PS now minister of land and housing. Stamp Duty was also exempted. It is stated in the transfer document that it was in consideration of the grant of the right of way over the same two plots (V8762 & V8761), and the road in question leads to a bigger property; V11919, which also belonged to Dolor. This is a scam between Christain Lionnet and Dolor Ernesta, there is no other way to describe it, which needs to be investigated. The people of Seychelles want to know how did Christian Lionnet arrive at this decision to give Dolor two pieces of prime land with a road that leads to his house for free? This is the question.

The above illustrates clearly that the two plots (V8761, 8762) were simply gifted to Dolor Ernesta by his friend Christain Lionnet for free. Dolor has since sold V8761 along with V11919 for 12.5 million rupees or probably for more and he has kept V8762. The right of way through the two properties was totally in favour of Dolor and nobody else. Dolor.

So far there has been no reaction to demands for an investigation in this matter. The Minister for Land has not responded. The President himself has not said one word on the matter. The FIU is playing blind to the many articles on the illicit sales of government land for personal gains. The Attorney General is also walking around with a blanket over his head. So corruption has become fashionable in the land of “judge me by my actions” or inactions for that matter. The leader of opposition is also not reacting to one of the biggest scandal in Seychelles history. WHY??

Source:Seyweekly.com

A SEYCHELLES BRAND INSPIRED BY THE SEA!

ARTIST MICHAEL BOUCHEREAU-ARNEPHIE DREAMING IT BIG AS A DESIGNER

The Seychelles archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, east of the African Coast boasts several features from powder-white beaches, an array of flora and fauna and clear tranquil waters of turquoise and blue, which all serve as inspiration for many including artists, poets, and musicians.

For one Seychellois artist, the vast Seychelles waters inspired him the most and in more than one way to becoming a passionate sailor, fisherman, graphic artist, painter and most recently the island nation’s latest designer.

Michael Bouchereau-Arnephie has turned his passion for the sea into an amazing range of Seychelles branded items.

The ‘M Arnephie’ Seychelles brand’ boasts a collection of beachwear including t-shirts, long-sleeved shirts, board shorts for men, shorts for the ladies, as well as beer can and bottle holders, mouse mats and coasters.

The illustrations printed on the garments clearly depicts Bouchereau-Arnephie’s love and passion for sports fishing, with several game fish, such as the majestic marlin proudly sporting his clothing line and accessories.

Interestingly, some of the islands and birds of the Seychelles archipelago have also been captured in his designs.

OWNING A SEYCHELLES BRAND IS A DREAM COME TRUE

Born and raised in Anse Boileau on the west coast of Seychelles’ main island of Mahé, which is home to about 86 percent of the country’s total population of 90,000, Bouchereau-Arnephie says he always dreamt of creating a Seychelles brand.

“There are many people on the island trying to use the Seychelles label and make a brand out of it but at times some of them are not entirely Seychellois and those who are authentic…only remains on the local scene,” said Arnephie in an interview.

“I want people to get used to my brand, a 100% Seychellois brand. For now we are focusing on the local market but the main intention is to push to the international market. As hard as it is, I want to be doing something completely different, something completely Seychellois from scratch.”

Entering Bouchereau-Arnephie’s workshop located at the Seychelles Yacht Club in the island nation’s capital of Victoria one can immediately spot the striking blue colour of the ocean in almost every design.

Although the Seychellois artist is venturing into launching a Seychelles brand for the first time he is surely not entirely new to the fashion world.

After studying fine art at the Seychelles Polytechnic in 1986, Bouchereau Arnephie left his tropical island home to work as a freelance fashion designer in Melbourne, Australia for well-known clothing brands such as Hang Ten, Ocean Breeze, Amco Jeans, and Slazenger Sportswear.

With all the knowledge gathered, the idea to create his own brand surfaced upon his return to Seychelles in 2002, with ‘Creole style’ and ‘H2O’ topping the list of possible names, but unfortunately this did not materialize.

Instead, he established ‘Hi-Tech Graphics’ working on branding for several well-known local brands such as Creole Travel Services, ZilAir and the award-winning 'Selebre Sesel' airplane livery of the Air Seychelles domestic fleet.

Last year, Bouchereau Arnephie revisited the idea to create a Seychelles brand and eventually got things started. He spent days and months to get a truly authentic brand as well as finding the right manufacturers that could deliver on his specific requirements.

“Apart from my designs, the clothing offer 30% solar guard and most items are from different manufacturers in China. I work with them on strict guidelines whereby I hand them my fabric specifications, the designs for each garment, the labeling etc..,” he explained.

Unlike the launching of most fashion brands that have multiple involvements, the Seychellois artist has managed the whole process on his own.

“Since I have several manufacturers…depending on their schedule and on my personal preference to have a simultaneous shipment, it can take three to four weeks for the collection to arrive in Seychelles.”

ALWAYS DREAMING IT BIG

It is evident that the Seychellois artist has a thing for challenges. In October last year, Bouchereau-Arnephie battled almost 70 artists worldwide to emerge the ‘Readers Choice’ of Marlin Magazine’s 2015 Marlin Offshore Art Gallery competition.

The winning painting of his majestic sailfish cutting through crystal blue waters leaving trails of tiny bubbles in its wake, its long sharp bill pointing towards the school of mackerel it is chasing into the deep was featured in the December/January issue of Marlin Magazine.

The artist elaborated that having a collection of paintings of the sea made it easier for him to start his new brand. He only had to reproduce his art works on the clothes in a way that it not only captures a small bunch of the country’s sailors and fishermen but also makes it an ideal choice for anyone.

“I would like to introduce more themes in the future but for now the fishes and birds are good enough to start with,” said Bouchereau Arnephie adding that he would like to see more people venture into producing 100 percent Seychelles branded products.

A SEYCHELLES BRAND MADE FOR THE LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL MARKET

According to the artist and designer the response so far have been positive. Currently, he sells the products in bulk to certain outlets in Seychelles but is looking into the possibility of having his own shop in the near future.

The products are also advertised on social media platform - ‘Facebook’ and ‘shopify,’ an e-commerce platform where people from overseas can buy the clothes and accessories.

“I have put all of my personal savings in this project, before that I approached some banks and they were not really interested to offer me a loan. My biggest problem is the custom fees …which contribute towards making my garments a bit pricier than the average garments available on the market,” Arnephie said.

For his first collection Bouchereau-Arnephie has a different price tag for the local and international market. Locally the price of the different products range from $5 to $74.

In spite of the challenges encountered, Michael Boucherau Arnephie believes that the sky is the limit and would like to expand his product line.

“It requires a lot of dedication and hard work. I am not there yet because at the end of the day I still need to make sure my garments are being sold… but things are going well so far…in future I want to expand the women’s line and include products such as beach bags, bikinis, more shorts and tops,” he said adding that this is based on feedback received from customers.

“As we grow I am also thinking of bringing onboard some fashion designers for the ‘M Arnephie Seychelles brand’, because I would need people to help me out with the local and international seasonal trends as well as colour preferences.”

Source:SNA

THE BIG INTERVIEW WITH ALEXIA AMESBURY

"The President should resign"

The lawyer claims that by assenting to the Public Order Act, James Michel violated his oath to protect and uphold the Constitution which specifically stipulates that the President has a duty not to assent to bills that may be unconstitutional. Alexia Amesbury also talks about the victory over the insidious POA and gives her take on the cannabis versus heroin fight.

By DB

Seychelles finally has a new Chief Justice who is a woman and a Seychellois. How do you welcome the appointment of Mathilda Twomey?

It came as no surprise; it has been out and about for about a year. As you say, she is a Seychellois, highly qualified both professionally and academically. But despite the fact that she has fought and contributed so much to the re-establishment of multi-party democracy in Seychelles, there has been a hard to shake "perception" that she is pro-establishment and this perception was re-enforced when she brought a case against Ralph Volcere at the beginning of her career as a Justice of Appeal. This was followed by the decision in the PDM and Viral Dhanjee cases. The Viral Dhanjee case, by the way, is now before the Human Rights Committee in Geneva. That said, there are a number of cases in which she has delivered excellent judgments showing that she is not afraid of delivering justice especially when the fundamental rights of the individual have been violated. One such case is the Charitha case, where she granted bail to six of the seven accused, even if to do so meant imposing "novel conditions" for the granting of bail. Her judgments are well written and well researched and her knowledge of our civil law will be a huge benefit and will contribute towards the development of local jurisprudence. For me though, the real test will come during the many challenges that I anticipate will be brought by all political parties during the election period. I have no doubt whatsoever that the judiciary in Seychelles is about to embark on a historic journey that will shake it up and shape it into the institution that is envisaged by the Constitution of our sovereign democratic republic. I congratulate her.

Speaking of shaking and shaping, the contested Public Order Act (POA) is dead and buried and has been replaced by a new bill, the Public Gathering Bill. You were instrumental in the battle to repeal of the POA. But what does this victory actually mean for the people?

Before we go into what this victory means, I need to point out something very important. James Michel was elected President on 28 May 2011. And shortly after that, he took the Presidential oath where he swore to faithfully and diligently perform his duties and discharge his functions as the President of Seychelles. He took an oath that he would be faithful to the Republic and that he would uphold the Constitution of Seychelles. He also swore an oath of allegiance that he would be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Constitution of Seychelles. And that he would preserve, protect and uphold the Constitution of Seychelles. This was his oath. The same oath was taken by the Speaker of the National Assembly. Having assented to this unconstitutional law, he violated the oath in which he undertook to uphold the Constitution of Seychelles and to bear true allegiance to the Constitution of Seychelles.

And how did he break his oath?

Under Article 87, the Constitution says that if a law is being passed and the President is of the opinion that a bill presented for assent infringes or may infringe the Constitution, the President shall not assent to the bill and as soon as practically possible within 14 days, he will advise the Speaker and refer the bill to the Constitutional Court for a decision in this respect. So, for having assented to that very unconstitutional law, he violated Article 87 of the Constitution, he violated his presidential oath because he swore to uphold the Constitution. And as a consequence of this major violation, he should resign. That's number one.  Number two - and this tells you why this is so bad - under article 81 of the Constitution which deals with the alteration of the Constitution, it says that the National Assembly can amend the Constitution but it shall not proceed with a bill to alter Chapter 1, Chapter 3 and article 81. Chapter 3 deals with the fundamental rights section and unless you hold a referendum, you cannot change those rights. So by bringing in the POA through which they have violated several of those fundamental rights, I argue that by so doing, they tried to amend Chapter 3 through the back door by not going through a referendum. In that way, the entire National Assembly has violated the Constitution in a major way. This is major stuff and this is why I say that they have all disqualified themselves and that they should all resign, the President first.

You asked for the whole POA to be struck down but the court didn't agree to that. Now, we have a new bill, the Public Gathering Bill that replaces the POA. Are you happy with this new bill?

I haven't seen the bill yet so I cannot comment. Basically, what the Constitutional Court did was to repeal all the unconstitutional sections of the POA and this means that all the sections that have been declared void have no legal effect, they have been declared invalid. As far as I am concerned, public gatherings are something that should be dealt with by the penal code. We don't need a specific law. The POA 2013 when it was voted repealed the colonial POA of 1959. And I must say that it is surprising that nobody, me included, ever challenged the constitutionality of that law. It infringed on many rights and yet while we challenged with ferocity the POA 2013, we did nothing about the colonial one.

Why is that?

There should have been a review of our laws and all laws inconsistent with our Constitution would have been declared null and void under Article 5 and I guess that this was what we had all been waiting to happen because the POA 1959 would have fallen in this category and it would or should have been repealed. I guess we were all waiting for that but little did we realise that something worse was coming. People need to understand the extent of the wrongdoing that was done by the introduction of the POA 2013. What they actually tried to do is to criminalise the exercise of our rights. It became a criminal offence to exercise the rights that the Constitution gave you.

And yet for something so grave, it baffles me that the general public seems so unmoved by the entire POA debacle while intellectuals battled it out in court. What rights are we talking about and how come the public in general hasn't felt affected by this?

Article 23 is your right to freely assemble so you can join with others, you can assemble, you can meet for political reasons, to propagate an idea. But the POA told you that, prior to exercising your right to freely assemble, you needed to get a permission from the police because the law prohibited the gathering of ten or more people! So sitting on the roadside near the taxi place, under the POA would not be allowed if the authorities did not want to allow it. The only kinds of public gathering that didn't require permission were funerals or weddings. The law created an offence just by having more than ten people gathering in public. And if the authorities chose to apply the law you could be imprisoned for not more than two years. And it gets worse. What really threw me about this law was that you needed permission to have a meeting even in your house, in your private property. Further, Section 19 (6) violates Article 20 - the right to privacy as it allows the police the right to enter your premises at anytime within 30 days if necessary by force and to search the premises and every person found therein and to seize anything found in the premises or place or on any person in violation of the right to property guaranteed by Article 26.

Did this apply to political meetings specifically or to any kind of meeting?

Any meeting. Even sporting events or a gathering of people playing music or making speeches - anything!

But why do you think government felt the need to pass a law that would give them so much control over people?

Because the government is all about control and they need to control the masses because they are afraid of the masses. This law was passed in preparation for the forthcoming elections and was geared to control political activities. So they had to have a piece of legislation in place to control the masses when the time comes just in case they need it. So that we would not have the right to hold political meetings, etc. And this thing gets worse - there's a section - 24 (2) that tells you that the President, by an order published in the gazette, could order all residents, say of Bel Ombre, not to leave their homes on polling day, or during polling hours so as only to allow certain persons to be exempted from the prohibition of movement- and to go vote! That's how broad their powers were.

So it was there to be used when and if needed?

Yes that's right. And the President could do that just by public proclamation in the gazette.

In its judgment, did court use harsh language to decry the violation of the Constitution by the National Assembly and the President?

Yes they had harsh words and rightly so because at the end of the day, we're talking about fundamental rights that the Constitution gives us. Can you imagine: even a demonstration by one person would’ve been rendered illegal!

I thought you said it was illegal if it was ten or more people?

If they assemble, then it is ten or more and you need to get permission from the police. But the right to demonstrate was also violated. If one person wants to demonstrate with a placard in the street, he or she needs to get permission. This act was brought about as a result of the demonstration by Ralph Volcere. So you bring about a whole new law to penalise the entire nation because five men sat peacefully at the Post Office with a placard around their necks?

Even the US got involved in this debate when Ambassador Robert Jackson of the Bureau of African Affairs of the US Department of State came to Seychelles. Do you think that the fact that international opinion had condemned the law helped with the judgment?

The judges are very "à jour" with what's happening. I'm not saying they were influenced, I'm merely saying they are aware of public opinion and international opinion. I obviously didn't discuss it with the judges but I think I can say they are aware of what people are saying.

And were you surprised by the judgment or were you expecting it?

I was expecting it. I was not surprised.

So your faith in the judiciary has been restored?

Yes, to a large extent. You see, the Constitution is 22 years old and despite the powers given to the judges under Article 5 which is to strike down any law that is inconsistent with the Constitution, for 22 years the judges have had this huge hammer and they had never used it.
But to be fair, for them to use the hammer, they need people to bring the case to them, surely?
Of course, but the problem is that there is no money in Constitutional cases. Most of those cases, I take pro bono and they are cases that you do out of conviction.

Your colleague Anthony Derjacques told TODAY a few weeks ago that the Electoral Commission has asked the Commissioner of Police to investigate the presence of foreign consultants for Parti Lepep in the country. Do you think this will come to anything?

Yes, I read about this in your newspaper. But while it is true that the court ruled in the POA judgment that the Commissioner of Police is not subject to the control of the Minister, at the end of the day it doesn't really matter what the court says, it's how it's applied. And on the ground, the Commissioner of Police will always be controlled by the Minister in charge of Internal Affairs. That is just a fact.

Because if he doesn't want to be controlled, he will be replaced?

Of course! It’s not a Constitutional post, it's a political appointment. But to answer your question, no it will not come to anything because the President cannot be investigated, he cannot be sued, he cannot be prosecuted because he has complete immunity under Article 59. This, even if he is found to have contravened a law. There is nothing anyone can do about it.

You launched your party a few months ago and then we haven't heard much from you on the political front. How are things?

I have a strategy. Many of my supporters cannot come forward with their support now because they fear victimisation. This is why I will only introduce them once the elections are announced and then if they are victimised, there will be link between their victimisation and the fact that they support me and then I will sue those who are victimising people.

Source:Today in Seychelles

WHO ARE THE REAL OWNERS OF H RESORT?

H Something

By A.Pierre

The secrecy behind the new hotel between Fisherman`s Cove and Berjaya Beau Vallon bay when it was being built, was exceptional. Even a gruesome discovery of a male human skull in a shallow grave blessed the final stages of construction. Nobody is quite sure whether the hotel is now called H Hotel , H Resort, H Resort Beau Vallon or H group; one thing is for sure they like the letter H.Has anybody asked what the H stands for?

What is for sure is that the company that is leasing plots V576, V577 and V10115 is a company called Belombre Hotels Development Limited. The new hotel was constructed under this limited company and any information on this new hotel was referred to Belombre Hotels Development Ltd by registrar during this period.The 3 plots total up to approximately 72,000 square meters of prime Government land.

The company signed a 99 year lease with the Government on the 8^th of April 2004 and was represented by Noelin Didon. The former President, Albert Rene, handed power to the current President on the 16th April 2004; only a mere 8 days after. As well as the upfront fee which nobody actually knows whether it was really paid, the annual rent to be paid is just a solitary 1 rupee per year! Very good business for the company and extremely generous by the Government.In addition no duty was paid. Public records show that Belombre Hotel Devopment Limited is owned by a company in the British Virgin Island (BVI) named Hotel Properties Ltd. BVI registers companies which do not have to disclose, on public record, their beneficial owners. Dominique Richard-Hebert the General Manager of H Hotel claimed in a recent interview that the hotel was owned by an investment group in the UAE; clearly trying to mislead.

It is also evident that Fisherman`s Cove Hotels Limited is owned by a Seychelles company to the name of Hotel Properties Limited; who in turn are owned by same Hotel Properties Limited in the BVI. In its published account dated 31st December 2004, Meridien (Seychelles) Limited  a Seychelles registered company owned by the international hotel management company disclosed that it was renting the Fisherman's Cove from Fisherman's Cove Hotel Limited for the annual sum of US$ 2,262,000, under a 20 year non-cancellable lease; which means that the lucky owners of Hotel Properties Limited in the BVI that also owns Belombre Hotel Development Limited will earn a total of US$ 60,210,000 over twenty years. Not at all a laughable sum. On top of that and according to the accounts of Fisherman’s Cove Hotel Limited it has been granted exemption from payment of Business Tax by the Ministry of Finance for a period of 20 years under the Investment Promotion Act. The Minister of Finance at the time was the current President James Michel.

The lucky and well hidden owners of Hotel Properties Limited in the BVI are getting extremely rich at the expense of the Seychellois people. The people of Seychelles must demand accountability from its Government on such atrocious deals. It must be recalled that former President Albert Rene published a document called “SPPF Policy Statement Onward to Socialism”. In it he claimed that “In accordance with the overriding aims of Seychelles People's Progressive Front, the tourist industry must result in economic benefits to all and not simply to those who have sought to capitalise on the natural beauty of the country”.

HAVE LOCAL ARTISTS SHOT THEMSELVES IN THE FOOT?

A LETTER FROM A CONCERNED HOTEL OWNER. 

All bars/restaurants/hotels to be charged SR9000 for playing local artists music? If these establishments do not play local artists music they do not have to pay. How this will be monitored is unclear. There was also no explanation letter to these establishments; just an invoice.

Random invoice from SACS with no explanation

Some consider music as the ‘heartbeat of life’, and yet because of the popularity of mainstream music, most people are unfortunately completely oblivious to the local music being produced within our shores.  There are so many benefits that local music events bring to our country and our musicians.  If we are supportive of our musical environment, music has a chance to grow and expand. Musicians and artists are a healthy part of our local economy. When we support them, we are supporting a countless number of business owners and employees.

Which brings me to my point… I  take exception to receiving an invoice in the post from a Society I knew nothing much of previously for something that ‘may or may not’ have been done.  Earlier this month, my elderly parents had quite a shock, when opening an item of post. Enclosed was an invoice for SCR9,000 being ‘Royalty payment to SACS for the year 2015’.

The first question after having a small heart attack at receiving an invoice for such a large amount, was ‘what the heck is this for’?, who on earth is SACS and why are they sending us an invoice for ‘Royalty Payments’ – we don’t even know where to find them or who they are. To add frustration to the insult of receiving this invoice, is that there is no explanation – nothing to say as to what we are due to pay this Royalty Payment for… what we have done to quantify us paying such a large amount to SACS, and what these funds are to be utilised for.

SACS is an acronym for Seychelles Artists and Composers Society, so one would think that perhaps we have used someone’s music or some such without going through the necessary channels… Attached to the invoice are copies from the Government Gazette – eight pages detailing the existence of copyright laws in Seychelles -  all well and good, but what are we paying SCR9,000 for?

First action would be to contact the telephone number on the invoice, which proved to be useless as ‘this number is not available at present’, the next would be to send them an email asking for an explanation, this too was useless as the email came back unsent – ‘The email address you entered couldn't be found.’ So Super-Sleuth me began to investigate further. I made some telephone calls to friends and associates, all of whom knew nothing. A few days later calls started coming back, many other hotels and restaurants have received the same invoice with only the name on the invoice (and invoice number) being changed.

The ‘Hotel Association’ was contacted and the response from them was as such

‘Apparently, SACS sends out these invoices to all establishments which may play copyrighted music for their guests (in their restaurants / bars or rooms etc)

If you do not play any music for your guests, you are to email them on the address stated on the invoice and advise them so, and they will take it from there.’

Well yeah! Well and good… their email address ‘cannot be found’…

So now the question is posed: Does this mean I can send out invoices to all and sundry just because they ‘may’ have utilized my services, so I can send you, dear reader, an invoice for reading this blog because I now put a © ‘copyright’ on it… so I can now reap in SCR9,000 from each of you… good scam! Now YOU have to prove that YOU have not read my blog or you must pay my invoice!

To all those local artists out there producing music… do you not wish for your music to be played and promoted? Because my thought on this is as such… the international market is HUGE.. Far greater than the local one… If I have a restaurant or a hotel or a guest house - whatever and there are tourists visiting my establishment and I play your music, in the background – surely I’ve bought your music, and I must enjoy it enough to play it for my guests, who more than likely will enjoy it too, and ask me who this artist is… and I can proudly say… ‘its one of our own’… more than likely that tourist who has been having a wonderful time in our beautiful islands will want to purchase your music, as a remembrance of their time here. They go home and play it for friends and family or at their office, and hey! What do know… you’re getting international exposure that one song being played in a little establishment is now selling 500+ copies for you…

Oh no! Wait hold on… this is not going to happen!

WHY?

Well because of SACS action of invoicing all and sundry for ‘Royalties’ regardless of if royalties are actually due, you will not get the exposure, as establishments are too afraid to play your music as there is nice hefty bill of SCR9,000 at the end of each year ‘just-in-case’ we have infringed on copyright, and this just simply as we may or may not have played your music that may or may not be copyrighted.

SACS… if you want to invoice someone for something…

1.Ensure that they should be billed for what you are billing them for

 2.Tell them exactly what your bill is for

 3.Make sure your contacts on your invoice are valid and actually EXIST!

 We fully understand if a video is displayed on YouTube or someone’s website is using an artist’s music without permission, then the normal etiquette would be to contact the persons involved and advise them of the infringement, request them to rectify the situation and if nothing is done THEN send them a bill for the royalties.

In the case of bootlegging, well this has become part of life, many would rather not pay for what they could get for free, until a way is found that makes it impossible to copy music without paying for it, this will continue to happen, but sending out bulk invoices is a case of ‘cutting off your nose in spite of your face’, because those who should be supporting you, are too afraid to. Why are you penalizing the folks who are in the best position to help you?

WHAT WAS RICKY BLASTER DOING IN THE UK?

Parti Lepep facebook group Dan Lari bazar was set up around August 2013 by High Level Government officials and Parti Lepep Central Committee members with the sanction of the President himself. The reason these cowards need fake profiles are to insult and attack ordinary citizens with baseless nonsense that are never backed up with any evidence; is because they are either Ministers, Principle Secretaries, officials at State house or Parti Lepep top dogs! Extremely disgusting; they see the end in sight. Extra ordinarily desperate! It has been known that the President himself monitors the group with the aid of his state house sexcretaries.

THE SET UP

Ricky blaster was the founding administrator along with another fake profile that has long since disappeared by the name of Samantha Balette. In fact it is probably the only facebook group in the world that is administered totally by cowardly fake profiles; and these are the people in government in Seychelles! 90 percent of the group members are fake profiles; all afraid of their own shadows. Ricky blaster along with his gang of Parti Lepep fake profiles have spent the last 2 years insulting everybody that questions this corrupt government. Wonder what Ricky blaster has to hide?

THE IP

THE LOCATION

The identity of the coward Ricky blaster has been much debated on social media. Very recently Ricky blasters` IP address was monitored to suddenly have changed to the UK for a few weeks! So how does a fake profile travel from Seychelles to the UK? Obviously the real person using the fake profile was the one on the move. After intense enquires and verification from immigration it can be revealed that none other than the Samsung S6 carrying land scammer Dolor Ernesta is the sole possibility; no other Ministers, Principle Secretaries, High Level Government Officials and Parti Lepep Central Committee members were in the UK for the period in question. Dolor Ernesta was in the UK! His party`s days are numbered as James Michel will shortly be announcing the upcoming elections. The man is so desperate to hang on to the 30+ pieces of land scammed from the government; unfortunately Ricky blasters efforts have been to no avail. The President was clearly lying when he said he would cut off the head of corruption at his inauguration as he has completely ignored calls for investigation in Dolor Ernesta and all his corrupted scams. James Michel encourages corruption. 

THE COWARD

Ricky Blaster has been unmasked and the people of Seychelles have noted.

TINTED WINDOWS; LEGAL FOR SOME

The issue of tinted windows has once again come to the fore. It is illegal for anyone in Seychelles to use tinted windows on their vehicles. With the prevalent crime in the country, it is quite normal that this aspect of the law has to be implemented to the word. However, the police Commissioner has the final say on who to be granted permission to carry tinted windows and who will be barred.

This absurdity can be justified only by those who have a vested interest in clandestine operations. If the law forbids the use of tinted windows on vehicles, this is the way it should be. The fact that a privileged few have the sanction of the police to move about unidentified is a dangerous affair. Why should some people decide not to be seen? Is it because they will be transporting drugs and need to be protected by the state? Under what circumstances will the Commissioner of Police allow them to use tinted windows? Is it for the transfer of mistresses of the high and mighty?

The Law

For the past years, the presidential security escort has always used tinted windows but never the presidential vehicle. The president has always been visible but one wonders what it is that the public should not see in the escort vehicles. What a weird way to offer security to the head of state!! The private vehicles of many other senior government officials have also been carrying tinted windows though they drive around with transparent windows in official vehicles. Are they showing off their status and privileges or are they involved in illegal activities after working hours? What is the big deal?

While many young people find it simply trendy to have tinted windows, one cannot take it for granted that they are not carrying out illegal activities. Senior government officials should know better. With corruption rampant, is the Commissioner of Police not an accessory to the commission of crimes by allowing the use of tinted windows to a privileged few? As it is, the use of tinted windows is unfounded. There can be no reason for its use; not even a medical one. Let the law apply to everybody! The Commissioner is paid to implement the law and not to favour anybody. He must remember the credo of the force: service without fear, favour, malice or ill will.

MORE GOVERNMENT LAND FOR DOLOR; SEYCHELLES CORRUPTION

Earlier articles reported the fact that Dolor Ernesta had abused his position as a government minister for land by grabbing several plots of government land for himself and his family. LD756 and LD757 two beach front properties at Anse Gaulette on La Digue was taken through an elaborated deal, which involved transferring the land on his father for SR75,000, almost 8000sq metres of land was lost to that scam. Dolor has since sold LD756 for 5 million rupees on paper, but many believe that he has sold the land for more. LD757 is still registered in Dolor’s name at the land registrar.

http://seychellesvoice.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-la-digue-land-scandal-revisited.html

It was also another three plots of land, taken from Government by Dolor, this time on Mahe at Sans Soucis; V10131, V10143 and V10331, nearly 3600sq metres of land in total. This is where Dolor is now residing at Sans Soucis, next door to the former residence of President Michel. If we were to put all five plots of land together; LD756, LD757, V10131, V10143 and V10331, in total 11587sq metres of Government land gone to one man, the former minister of land use in this government.

http://seychellesvoice.blogspot.com/2015/06/dolor-ernesta-perceptionist-seychelles.html

If you thought that the above was the totality of land taken from government land bank by Dolor, you are totally mistaken. Dolor Ernesta has an undiminished appetite (greed) for government land. Further evidence of another four plots of government land given to Dolor Ernesta; This brings the total so far to ten (with V11919, included) plots of government land for Dolor, contrary to government policy, which says that a person without a piece of land is entitled to only one plot (per person).

On 12th August, 1996; V8761 and V8762 were transferred to Dolor Ernesta for nothing. YES NOTHING! Dolor was the minister at the time, so he was in a position to organise the deal from inside (insider dealings). Joseph Nourrice signed on behalf of the Government and Dolor for himself.

Dolor Ernesta gets Government land for free

 On 16th September, 2011, Christian Lionnet the Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Land Use and Housing at the time, acting on behalf of the Republic of Seychelles, signed to transfer another two plots of land on Dolor Ernesta; V10153 and V17907. Dolor paid SR37, 560 for the two plots of land. The “Dolor land scandal” is a crime against the people of Seychelles. It is corruption at its highest. Dolor has since sold V17907, V8761 along with another plot V11919 for SR12, 500,000 rupees (SR12.5million). Further details on how he got V11919 will be forthcoming along with other stolen pieces of land.

Corrupt Central committee member of Parti Lepep

There has been many call for an investigation in the dealings of Dolor Ernesta, former minister, Central Committee member of Parti Lepep and embarrassing Vice chairman of SCCI, to establish whether any wrong doing; abuse of power, corruption or embezzlement and other inappropriate transactions has been committed. So far the President has remained quiet and has ignored all calls for an investigation. This is one of the biggest scandals by far that has come to light since James Michel was handed power in 2004, when he pronounced these immortal words, “judge me by my actions”. His silence on this scandal is deafening. If President Michel has decided not to investigate Dolor Ernesta he must provide the population with an explanation. This is the least that is expected from the elected President of the Republic. He is accountable to the people of this country. That is a responsibility he cannot avoid.

Source: Seyweekly.com

ARE THE SEYCHELLES POLICE HIDING THE DNA TEST RESULTS?

By A.Pierre

Nothing has been heard from the Seychelles Police on the Bel Ombre skull case since the nation newspaper  on the 1^st of June reported assistant commissioner, Reginald Elizabeth,  saying he does not believe this will prevent the experts from identifying the victim in terms of “misleading” reports by Today in Seychelles Newspaper; that had claimed the week before that forensic experts in Mauritius had told them that because essential parts of the skull are missing it will be difficult to complete the DNA test.

Bel Ombre Skull

It is now well over two months since Detective Yves Leon took the human skull and DNA samples from three families to Mauritius for forensic analysis. The skull and DNA samples left Seychelles on 19th May 2015 and on 19 July 2015; it was exactly two months and not a word from the office of the Commissioner of Police on the matter. Reginald Elizabeth had also confirmed the skull to be an adult male. He also confirmed that the police have in their possession five empty bullet casings found on the scene but until confirmation from a ballistic expert, the police are in no position to establish neither their origin nor when they were fired. Mr Elizabeth further confirmed in an article in the nation newspaper on the 23^rd of May that the results of the DNA tests are expected in one or two months while results of the forensic pathology analysis on the skull are expected to take a week or more. We are now in August and still no news. Mr Elizabeth had stressed that the police are determined to bring as much transparency in the case and have set up a small taskforce committee with senior CID officers to determine if there has been any foul play, natural death or possible suicide which may have caused the death of the individual. The public are baffled!

Have the police received the test results and are hiding the information from the public? If not would it be asking too much for a statement from the office of the Commissioner of Police? The public are not comfortable with the silence over this very sensitive issue. The public are therefore appealing to the office of Mr Ernest Quatre for information on the matter immediately.

The skeleton with skull and bullet casings was discovered at Bel Ombre on a building site of H Resort in the second week of May. It took the police one whole week to get to the construction site, which is five minutes drive from the Central Police Station where the Commissioner is based. During that time, the evidence had been interfered with by Mauritian company Green Scapes Ltd; the landscaping company that was working there. The directors of the company have never been called in for questioning by the police for interfering with a possible crime scene. They sacked the lady, who by sheer coincidence, managed to save the skull otherwise there would have been nothing to go on; to try and identify the victim. This situation in itself is deserving of an inquiry to establish who tried to destroy the evidence. According to eye witnesses an excavator was used to dig up and remove all traces of the skeleton on the same night that the discovery was made. Unbeknownst to them Ms Patricia Duval had removed the skull, placed it in a plastic bag and had kept it in a store overnight. The next morning she reburied the skull at a different spot from where it was originally found because the area had been disturbed the night before. Patricia Duval was sacked by Green Scapes Ltd. She also revealed on the show Seselwa Annou Koze on 20^th of May that a part of an arm was found. Did the Mauritian company destroy that evidence?

Green Scapes Ltd

The attention is now all on the Commissioner of Police, Ernest Quartre,  as the public wait with bated breath at the overdue results of the DNA test.