SEYCHELLES GOV’T SAYS IT WILL PAY FOR POLICE BEATINGS

According to the Attorney General Anthony Fernando the Seychelles’ government has accepted liability for injuries caused in 2006 when police beat opposition protesters with truncheons at the National Assembly building in Victoria.

The 13 claimants were among crowds protesting a ban on radio station licences for political or religious groups. The opposition said at the time the government was unfairly controlling the media ahead of the July 2006 presidential election.

“We have accepted liability,” Fernando told Reuters.

The top government lawyer said he was working out of court to settle the issue, but said the total claim of 1 million Seychellois rupees ($125,000) was too high.

Police said at the time that opposition leader Wavel Ramkalawan, an Anglican priest, sparked the trouble by punching an ofﬁcer.

“The police were doing a good job to disperse the crowd until the Special Support Unit moved in with truncheons,” Fernando said.

Independent newspapers in the 115-island Indian Ocean archipelago do exist and are critical of ofﬁcials.

But critics say the government’s dominance of most media and the threats of libel suits restrict freedom.

Courtesy Reuters.