Christopher Gill's Column

Let’s Talk About Murder

The Murder of Damandra Eulentin

Christopher GillThe ‘Regar’ and ‘Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly’ have recently both ran a number of stories relating to the murder of Damandra Eulentin, a  26 year old fisherman from Roche Caiman who lost his life before even reaching his prime. There were numerous allegations of torture and  that the perpetrators were State Security based at State House at the time of his disappearance. When Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly ran this story, the Commissioner of Police issued a Press Release to SBC, which Kevin Malbrook read out to the Public in the News Headlines in rebuttal to Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly’s articles on the subject. Malbrook in the SBC Evening News said the Police categorically deny that Damandra was tortured and also that there was no evidence of him being so tortured.

 The following week after the Commissioner’s interjection through SBC, the Weekly published some gruesome pictures which undeniably and categorically proved Beyond Any Reasonable Doubt (Legal Burden of Proof for Murder) showed that Damandra had in fact been tortured. These photos were censored by the printer of Weekly; Printec.  These can be viewed on the Weekly website: www.seychellesweekly.com, hosted somewhere in the world, outside of Seychelles, beyond the reach of the SPPF Government of Seychelles. 

 A chain around a victims neck, a sliced throat, marks of being beaten, a broken neck, dismembered scrotum, a missing eye socket and of course, an engine block, all point to the torture of a victim, completely, contrary to the Police Commissioners assertion that he was not tortured at all.

 Having said that, why would the Police sanction and cover up an incident of torture by releasing a Press Statement to SBC to say Damandra was not tortured, but instead, attempt to infer that he died a graceful and peaceful murder? Why did not the Police ask Weekly for evidence of torture if it believed Damandra had not been tortured? I am most certain the Editor, Mr. Ralph Volcere, would provide the evidence he had in his possession to the Police. Are the Police protecting someone under orders or out of fear for their own person? The answer to that may lead one of reasonable mind, to reasonably infer, from the Police’s own actions, that State Security may just be behind the murder and the Police may just know about it after all. Who did the torture and murder is now the Police’s job to see to a completion without regard of who the Killers are or what their profession maybe.

 The President of the Republic, being the then Minister of Internal Affairs, has a responsibility to ensure that the Police does its job and charges the culprits regardless of place of employment. Relocating offices of staff to distance Mr. President from the action does not expunge the crime from having been committed. Having said that, we must also not blame Mr. President for an individual’s action which was not ordered by him. After all, a worker gone out of control is bad for everyone.

Murder In The Neighborhood Is Bad For Business

Even Eden Island will have trouble selling its condominium units once potential buyers learn that this type of violence is happening within the vicinity of its prestigious address and the Killers are still out there, just across the bridge which separates the dream island still under construction after many years of delays, from our reality on Mahe. As potential Investors look over the ocean seeing a dark blue ocean, they will not think of coral reefs and magical little fish, instead, they will have bad dreams of engine blocks and tortured bodies farmed out between Eden Island and St. Anne Resort every so often. Killing is bad for business. Not catching the culprits is worse for business.

 In the meantime, it is fair to say, we have some very sick people walking our streets and driving through Victoria everyday to work. They are among us. They see you...you see them. They say hello, you say hello. They smile at you; you must smile back at them.

Who killed Ricky Hermite and George Aglae

At the turn of the New Year we had a number of murders in town and the immediate surrounding vicinity. These murders have not been solved yet and the Police have gone silent again. When a Police Force is ineffective in solving murders, it gives Investors a bad feeling about a local potential investment, especially for the vacation home market. After all, who on earth would want to invest in a Country where People are killed regularly and the murders go unsolved like clock work. I am sure Kingdom Hotel Investments (KHI) will not be happy to learn of torture killings. Nor will Pinnacle Property Holdings of Cape Town, South Africa, in the Seychelles. The more murders that take place in Seychelles the less viable the projects of these developers will become. They will end up with projects that will become competing ghost owns with golf carts.

 Projects like Eden Island and Ile Aurore Project, which is supposed to bring Millions into Seychelles economy, are banking on South African Investors and European Investors, Middle East Investors. This market wants to escape crime in their own countries and not jump into an island crime-laden. They want to know that they are safe when they walk the streets and do not have to bump into murderers at the market on Saturday morning while sorting vegetables, fruits and fish for the week.  

 What About The Murder of Ryan Lesperance?

Remember Ryan Lesperance? He was an 18 year old that was found under the bridge dead at Cap Samy, Praslin, last year just before the Presidential Elections. It is generally believed that Ryan died as a result of mistaken identity. The Coroner, of course, said that he died of a drowning. Hard for an 18 year old to die of drowning in less than 12 inches of water isn’t it? If he was drowning, why didn’t Ryan just stand up in the water? Maybe someone was holding him down; if that was case the Police must have the courage to think about how a strong 18 year old dies in less than12 inches of water.

Ryan worked with me in maintenance and he was a very nice young man. He could never hurt even a fly. Sometimes it’s the harmless that takes the brunt of the harm. Ryan was SPPF. I wonder if he would change his vote as he got older? We will never know.

 My father died an early death. It was suppose to have been a motorcycle accident. But others say otherwise. Had he survived to this day his guitar would have put Albert Rene’s AK-47’s to rest a long time ago. In fact, Seychelles would have become the first Country to outlaw the use of guitars in public during the One Party Communist State had Mickey Mancham been alive during that dark period of Albert Rene’s legacy upon our People.

  I hope Mr. President is not taking us back to those dark days to emulate his predecessor. Mr. President is now faced with a defining moment in his political career.

Remember The Murder of Claude Monnaie  

Claude Monniae was a truck driver on Praslin. His body was found badly charred in the truck he drove around the bend going to Anse Consolation, Praslin, late one Friday night. After fighting for his life at Victoria Hospital for a number of days from the severe first degree burns to his body he could not fight any longer and died. He was survived by his wife and two children. Claude was very vocal and spoke his mind. He was always making public statements about and against the SPPF Government. He seemed to always have an acute sense of justice, right and wrong about his character. There is no harm in that. It just may offend someone with sensitive skin. However, his vocals did not merit that he be killed for expressing his opinions in Public. Sometimes, I would not want to hear all that Claude had to say, so I just walked away. Many of us want to live in denial that these Murders do not happen in Seychelles. But they are happening. You may say, why didn’t Claude just walk away from the fire? Well, he couldn’t. His hands were tied to the steering wheel of his truck while the fire emblazoned him to death. The location of the incident is not far from Fond Ferdinand, our nature reserve of Coco De Mers which we pride ourselves on and tourists come to visit everyday. Claude’s Ghost is still there unsettled.

Claude’s anniversary approaches now. We all must pray for Claude’s family and for his spirit. We ask the Police to be courageous, solve his murder and find the culprits and bring them to trial. In the meantime, the murderers of Claude Monnaie are among us. They walk the streets, drive to work. We look at them, they look at us. They smile at us, we must smile back at them.

 There are many more murders that have gone unsolved in Seychelles. These are just a few of the most recent ones. Pardon me if I have missed any names. We need to start collecting data on unsolved murders in paradise and put them to the Police to solve. The victims are not animals, they are Seychellois like all of us. They were individuals with families. They had hopes and dreams which they will never be able to even try to achieve because of evil men’s interference in God’s Divine plan for them.

We cannot sit by and take the stance “Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil”, like a bunch of self-gratifying, self-indulging Yes Men and Flower Pot Women, wondering when the next “777” will come up on the slot machine, as our People get killed and murders go unsolved by the Police. All the while Police deny allegations that have been substantiated publicly.

When Justice works and conducts itself responsibly, the place for evidence is always in a Court of Law. When Justice fails, evidence ends up in the papers or tabloids, on the Internet and the Public become the Jury, not the Courts. Le Pep Pou Note!

Help Mr. President Solve Murders

Now you know why it is important for the Police to be efficient and truthful to the Public, no matter who the culprits are. In every government, in any country, we will have bad apples to deal with. It takes courage from the leadership to do so. I believe Mr. President will not let the People of Seychelles down. We must all support him in ridding the country of murderers on the loose in spite of the Police being left-footed and working under the umbrella of intimidation. 

 We cannot condone a bunch of men who are out of control in our society and shed such a barbaric shadow upon us while we are trying to disparage ourselves of vestiges of One-Party State tactics on controlling people’s lives. We are human, created in the likeness and goodness of God. All Seychellois deserve better than murder. There are no exceptions. We are People that love Peace. But the use of violence going unchecked by the Government will only imprison themselves (the powers that be) from touching the blessings of real freedom which God offers us all, but it is up to us to take up the offer.

 Unless Mr. President changes the way things are done in Internal Affairs, to no fault of his of course, murders will continue, allegations of torture will continue to be denied, and crimes will continue to go unsolved and the Killers will continue to walk our streets, drive to work everyday, smile at us and we will have to smile back at them. They will call our names... we will have to respond and say hello. When Investors and Judges see them, they too, will have to smile, and say hello to them, because they, the killers, are now the final decision-makers in our society. They have no sense of judgment and will resort to killing because that is what they know how to do best when faced with a simple day to day problems which could be solved with a little thought.

 May God Bless All Freedom Loving Seychellois!

August 3, 2007
Copyright 2007: Seychelles Weekly, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles