Patrick Pillay interviewed under caution
The future Presidential candidates was questioned in connection to an alleged case of human trafficking involving a 30 yearold Sri Lankan national.
Patrick Pillay arriving at the CID yesterday with his lawyer, Daniel Cesar.
The leader of Lalyans Seselwa, Patrick Pillay, was interviewed under caution yesterday afternoon at the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) in connection with the alleged human trafficking of Gihan Fernando. Mr Pillay who was accompanied by his lawyer, Daniel Cesar, spent around 30 minutes at the CID. After the interview, Mr Cesar told TODAY that his client had answered “all” the police’s questions. Mr Pillay has been asked to return to the CID tomorrow for further questioning. The police will then have to decide whether or not to charge Mr Pillay.
“Mr Pillay will be providing the police with a series of additional correspondences which should dispel these ridiculous allegations”, Mr Cesar affirmed. For his part, the leader of Lalyans Seselwa said that he had “no idea” about the reasons that had motivated the police to summon him for questioning, adding that he felt “sorry for the poor police officers” who had had to interview him. In the latest instalment of the Seselwa Annou Koze programme posted on YouTube yesterday, he described the allegations as part of “a massive campaign to embarrass me in public before the elections so that I withdraw my candidacy for the Presidential election”.
Gihan Fernando, a 30 yearold Sri Lankan national, is currently on holiday in Seychelles. He says that he was in Mr Pillay’s employ from December 2014 to February 2015 and has accused the future Presidential candidate of bringing him to Seychelles for the purposes of exploiting him. He has also alleged that the former Parti Lepep Minister of sexually assaulting him. Mr Fernando’s allegations had been receiving growing coverage in pro-government press in recent weeks. According to a statement of Mr Fernando’s, which was recently published in one of these newspapers, he was not paid for the additional duties he was forced to complete.
Mr Pillay’s lawyer recalled that his client had lodged a criminal complaint in respect of these allegations when they first surfaced in the papers. “The police did nothing about the complaint. The Media Commission only acknowledged it. If these bodies had taken their duties seriously, the investigation would have revealed the truth without the need of arresting my client”, Mr Cesar remarked. With nomination day less than a month away, this new development is but the latest in a series of twists that have marked the run-up to the 2015 Presidential contest.
Were Mr Pillay to be charged with human trafficking he would still be eligible to stand for the Presidential election.
Source: Toda.sc 10-15-15