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| The Birth |
On the 29th of June 1976, as the Union Jack was lowered, the
newly independent Republic of Seychelles was born. It was a joyous occasion
heralded by carnivals, parties, fireworks and general festivities as a
fledgling but proud nation moved “En Avant” towards a new destiny full of hope
for a bright future. An enthusiastic People welcomed this new dawn and their
new Democratic Republic by dancing and celebrating in the streets while
enjoying all the freedoms that the new multi-party constitution guaranteed. There
was no doubt whatsoever that the 29th of June was a happy occasion for all and
the Seychellois people were intoxicated by happiness and hope on that day.
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| We were free! 1st Edition of the Nation Newspaper |
On the 5th of June 1977, a group of armed goons led by a
power hungry dictator led a military coup against the very coalition government
of which he served as Prime Minister. They declared it as a new dawn for the
Seychellois nation. This new dawn, unlike the 29th of June 1976 was not a
joyful occasion. No one danced in the streets. Instead it was heralded by the
murder of two Seychellois (Bernard Jeannie and Hassan Ali) followed by curfews;
the first time Seychellois had witnessed such curtailment of their freedoms in
their entire history. The traitors who perpetrated this heinous act of treason,
all dressed up in military fatigues, patrolled the streets of our once peaceful
country brandishing Russian AK47 assault rifles while intimidating the
population. The fireworks that the Seychellois nation witnessed that day were
not the beautiful dazzling ones that lit up the Seychelles skies on the 29th of
June 1976 but rather, the fire spitting out of the muzzles of AK47 rifles as
their bullets ripped into innocent Seychellois flesh and heralded in a new era
of political murders and brutal dictatorship. There is no doubt whatsoever that
the 5th of June 1977 was when the Seychellois nation was engulfed and
suffocated by a veil of evil darkness that continues to haunt us all to this
day.
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| The treasoners; Albert Rene, James Michel and others |
Josette Hoarau
