WEEKLY EDITOR RUN OFF HIGHWAY

Ralph Volcere's car after he was ran off the road by two jeeps.

ON Thursday evening, 10th April, the editor of Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly, Mr. Ralph Volcere, was run off the road by two terios jeeps on the highway at Providence. The two jeeps apparently squeezed Mr. Volcere off the main highway by manouvering one jeep in front of his car and the other one behind him squeezing him like a sandwich in between. As the three vehicles sped on at a high speed, Volcere , had to swerve his car quickly to the left side of the highway to get out of this potentially fatal situation. As a result his car collided with some casuarina trees and sustained extensive damage. Consequently, Volcere, who was visibly shaken by the incident suffered minor scratches over his arms and legs. The exercise appears to be one aimed at intimidation, more than anything else, as the jeeps continued their way at a high speed after Volcere's car left the road to end up amongst the casuarina trees nearby. Volcere, is known for his hard hitting articles in his popular newspaper, Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly and has ruffled a few feathers in the country for daring to venture where most journalists have feared to tread.

As a result, quite a few people may very much like to see the back of him. This is not the first time Volcere has been at the centre of such incident. Late last year he was also attacked and assaulted by a member of the much feared State House Security at Anse Aux Pins. This incident was reported by US State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2007. The report was released publicly by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour last year. Both incidents have also been reported to the police here although it is not clear whether the police has conducted an investigation into these matters.

Intimidation tactics was the weapon of choice employed during the one party state era to stifle dissent and eliminate criticisms of the government. However, since President Michel took over as President of the country such incidents have not been as prolific as before. Although, such practices are now few and far between, it has not been eliminated completely. People like Mr. Volcere remains vulnerable as they have continued to expose corruption, bribery, nepotism, fraud, police brutality, extortion, theft and patronage in the country in the face of adversity, threats and intimidations.

This may have upset the establishment who are intent on portraying Seychelles as a Utopia to the outside world. It is not surprising therefore that every so often Volcere is targeted in one way or another to gag him permanently and chase him out of the country. Mr. Volcere, who was arrested at the young age of 22 in 1982 was the youngest dissident at the time to be detained without trial before seeking political asylum in U.K. He returned to Seychelles in December 1981 after Rene unexpectedly re-introduced multi-party democracy in the country. Volcere has continued his political activities in SNM, SNP and lately DP and has been quite outspoken in his political views.

As editor of the coveted Weekly, Volcere has not shied away from criticisms of the establishment whenever it is deemed justified at the expense of his personal safety and security. Volcere has stated that he will continue with his duties irrespective and will not be intimidated by anyone.