Letters to the Editor

CHIEF JUSTICE Sir France Bonnetard WOULD HAVE MADE US ALL PROUD TODAY

Dear editor, I refer to the article entitle “celebrating 44 years” (of the Seychelles weekly) which appeared in the last week edition in this paper. The most striking and interesting fact about the article which interest me very much, was the landmark ruling of the chief justice of that era, sir Nicolas France Bonnetard, as the article pointed out that there was in Seychelles at that time, an “understanding” between the British colonial administration and the land owners – the “grand blanc” ( white people of French decent ), the ruling of the chief justice whose surname suggested to be French (probably of French decent himself –a “grand blanc”) leaves us with much food for thought. In chief justice Bonnetard’s mind was not the thought of helping out his compatriots, the “grand blanc”, but rather that of ‘JUSTICE’, pure and simple! It did not matter where the “grand blanc” supporters brought a petition to set aside the election of Mr. James Mancham, but to the chief justice, the only thing that mattered was ‘JUSTICE’ – untainted ‘JUSTICE!’ And good judgment was delivered accordingly. I’m pretty sure that the judiciary under C.J. Bonnetard was very much respected by the public; this is in sharp contrast to our present day judiciary, of course.

Today, the public in its majority have lost not only faith, but respect in the judiciary. Many people view that institution as a tool or weapon that belongs to the powerful in society use simple to impede the legitimate rights of the weak and the vulnerable. One could be forgiven of course for thinking that the judiciary today seems to be more Robin Hood in reverse. The original Robin Hood is said to be a character who stole from the rich to give to the poor. Whereas, our judiciary of today appears to be concerned with taking from poor/poorer/poorest to give to the rich/richer/richest. How can the same person explain the logic behind the fact that when a newspaper (one that is not government control) legitimately criticizes a top government official for any wrong-doing, fines itself with a ruling by a supreme court judge to pay an exorbitant and disproportionate sum of several hundred thousand rupees? By contrast, When a poor individual (A breadwinner of a poor family) is murdered in cold blood by the authorities, the same supreme court find that a measles few thousand rupees is enough for the aggrieved family as compensation for its lost one. Wouldn’t someone therefore be forgiven for believing that the essence of Robin Hood in reverse was at play in these two examples?

The so-called reputation of a powerful and privileged individual seems to the Supreme Court much more precious than the life of a poor and vulnerable individual. Perhaps, if our justice system today had an honest and fair minded person like sir Nicolas France Bonnetard, our judiciary would have made us all proud and our young democracy would flourish wonderfully. Remember, one doesn’t buy respect or force (with AK47 or lopsided judicial rulings perhaps) people to respect him/her.

This feeling comes naturally to people. Individual like Sarah Rene, Rosemarie Elizabeth, Edwina Adrienne, French Chang-him, Andre Sauzier, Kantilal Jivan-shah (to name just a few) do not need to beg nor buy nor force respect. They simple earned it by the way they conduct themselves and in the way they give themselves unselfishly and wholeheartedly for the good of others.

Thank you for the space

“Robin Hood the reverse”