Seychellois convicts in Egypt lose appeal against death sentence |16 October 2014

The three Seychellois currently in Qena prison, Republic of Egypt have lost their appeal against the death sentence imposed on them by the Egyptian courts on April 7, 2013, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday.  

They are Ronny Norman Jean, Yvon John Vinda and Dean Dominic Loze.
“Although it is the government’s policy to respect the sovereignty and judicial process in other countries, it nevertheless upholds the rights of its citizens to a fair trial,” says the ministry in a communiqué.  

To this end, while reassuring the Egyptian authorities of its ‘zero tolerance’ policy against drug trafficking, the government wrote in 2013 to the Egyptian to appeal for a fair trial and the avoidance of capital punishment which does not exist in our legal system.

In the same vein, the government took all measures practical and feasible to ensure that the Seychellois obtained the required legal and consular representation.

The decision of the highest appellate body in Egypt now implies that execution orders will follow.
Meanwhile, the government is not relenting in its efforts to pursue all possible diplomatic and legal avenues in consultation with the Egyptian authorities to avert the death penalty.

The three Seychellois were arrested on April 22, 2011 in the Red Sea after Egyptian police officers found three tons of drugs inside their South African flagged boat.