The country is now in a permanent state of instability; economically; socially and legally. The prison is overflowing with convicted criminals as well as remand prisoners. The remand process is the sending of suspect into custody to allow for further investigation. Unfortunately the prosecution has been abusing this procedure along with the police force and the judiciary using the remand procedure as a form of sentencing before trial. The constitutional provision that a person is innocent until proven guilty is blatantly overlooked by judges. This proves our point that the legal system has irretrievably broken down and the acting CJ is clearly incapable of changing anything. In fact the prison is currently overcrowded and the situation at Montagne Posee is beyond the Superintendent of Prison and his guards. Gelase Hoareau despite putting up a good performance recently in a television talk show on Human Rights is finding the job too big a mountain to climb. The general opinion out there is that he simply does not possess the acumen to run such an institution. He does not have the intellectual capacity or the managerial skills to exercise control over the inmates or the guards. He too has become embroiled in the mess he helped created at the Montagne Posee Prison. A few months ago whilst the auditors were auditing the accounts of the prison a fire conveniently broke out and destroyed his office; his computers, all his files and other documents under very suspiscious circumstances.
Last Week on Monday 21 July 2008 at around midnight the Montagne Posee Prison was taken over by the newly formed Military Police, the prison guards on duty were taken hostages for the good part of three hours held at gunpoint whilst the soldiers ransacked the building; holding cells and every nooks and crannies at the prison were meticulously inspected. Prisoners were stripped naked, torches were shone up and down private parts to establish that nothing was being hidden away up the rectum and body orifice. The prison guards felt powerless and frustrated about the whole incident and have been taking it out on the prisoners since, convicted and remands. On Thursday 24 July, 2008, just after dinner around 5 pm the prisoners were putting away kitchen utensils when a bowl fell on the floor. One remand prisoner, Joel Figaro, 28 from Anse Aux Pins, attempted to pick up the bowl and he was attacked by a prison guard. He tried to defend himself against the guard who had attacked him. He was then brutally dragged by four other prison guards, which included Jeffrey Malvina, Daniel Florentine, Joachim Pillay into the office of Gelase Hoareau where he was subjected to a barrage of kicks and blows to the head, body and legs in the presence of Gelase Hoareau who stood there motionless and did absolutely nothing to stop the carnage that ensued before his very own eyes. Joel Figaro told Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly from his hospital bed that a wooden stick rapped in cloths was used to break his leg which caused him to pass out.
He regained consciousness and found himself at the Anse Royale Hospital where a nurse informed him that he had been brought into hospital to be treated for asthma - according to prison guards. Joel Figaro told the nurse that he has never had asthma and that he had been beaten up by prison guards. He was later transferred to the Victoria Hospital where he received treatment for his injuries, which included a broken leg. Gelase Hoareau told the nation through the SBC TV talk show he appeared in recently that there is no abuse on prisoners at the Montagne Posse Prison. It now appears to be a big white lie from someone charged with looking after the security and welfare of others. Can we trust him??
