TRNUC hears more about Sony Elizabeth’s death, victimisation complaints |16 October 2019

Members of the Commission

The Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission (TRNUC) yesterday sat for its 17^th hearing in which it heard evidence from a number of witnesses pertaining to the death of Sonny Elizabeth in 1983 as well as complaints of victimisation by the government in years subsequent to the Coup of 1977.

-Case 0056: Elizabeth Family Case; brother provides evidence around circumstances surrounding the death of Sonny Elizabeth

During Monday’s hearing, the commission heard about the death of Sonny Elizabeth who was allegedly killed along with Michael Hoffman in July, 1983, in evidence provided by Army Captain Jemmy Marengo.

Yesterday William Elizabeth, the brother of then 22-year-old Sonny Elizabeth, appeared before the commission to lay out his complaint around the incident which he alleges took place on July 22, 1983 at Morne Blanc.

He started off by noting that the Elizabeth family has been forced to keep quiet about the matter for 30 plus years and thanked the commission for the opportunity to voice their story and that of their brother.

Mr Elizabeth noted that at the time of the incident, he was aged just 16 and was enrolled in the National Youth Service (NYS) on St Anne island. On that tragic day, he was asked to report to the office to pick up an urgent phone call from family and was told that he had to get dressed and return to Mahé since one of his brothers had been involved in an accident. Upon reaching Mahé, he met some members of the family and made their way to Bel Air where the family resided at the time where he was confronted with the sight of his crying mother and sisters.

According to Mr Elizabeth, his brothers went to the mortuary and upon returning they, as well as other residents of Bel Air who accompanied them, proposed that the injuries on Elizabeth’s body were not consistent with the stated cause of death as it appeared that they had been tortured. Additionally, he noted that his uncles and brother went to Sans Souci, just after Mission Lodge (towards Port Glaud) to examine the scene and they confirmed that the car in which they were travelling, had been pushed into a ravine and didn’t appear to be so damaged.

He noted that during that Saturday afternoon, his brother’s body was transported to their parents’ house at Bel Air where relatives and acquaintances were invited to pay their last respects. Among the visitors, Mr Elizabeth noted the presence of an individual identified as ‘Timothy’ who he alleges was a well-known state spy and that Timothy proceeded to question their mother and tried to convince her that her son had been killed in an accident, causing his uncles and brothers to be very angry. The funeral was held the following day.

“This incident has scarred us as a family and we have not been able to live as a family since the death of our brother. When the coffin was home, we managed to inspect his body and we saw stab wounds all over his body. His face was disfigured from boots marks which were still apparent on his forehead and wounds to his neck and chest,” Mr Elizabeth noted.

Mr Elizabeth suggested that his brother was wounded with a dagger or bayonet and that he was severely beaten and his face stomped on.

He went on to point out several inconsistencies with the account provided by Mr Marengo on Monday on the circumstances surrounding his brother’s death. Contrary to what was stated by Mr Marengo, Mr Elizabeth claims that Mr Marengo was well acquainted with both Hoffman and his brother after they attended the same school and that rather than leaving the car before the three (including the driver Brian who survived the ordeal) were ambushed as he claimed, Mr Marengo was the one who pushed the boys out of the car while cursing at them before other soldiers beat them to death.

Mr Elizabeth also questioned why the police have not conducted a proper investigation in the matter, refuting the claims that Mr Marengo had no knowledge of what would happen but alleging that he actually planned and orchestrated their unfortunate endings. The only document that the family possesses in relation to the death of Sonny is a death certificate with no clear cause of death stated.

Mr Elizabeth continued his account referring to his younger sister, who subsequently to the death of his brother was working at a farm in Beau Vallon. He claims that Jemmy Marengo was in close contact with the owner of the farm and that he would pester and harass his little sister until she eventually had to quit the job.

Mr Elizabeth claims that over the years, his mother’s health deteriorated and that the incident impacted on all members of their family significantly over the years. As with other witnesses who claimed they were victimised, Mr Elizabeth stated that their house was under surveillance as were members of their family.

Asked if his family were politically active prior to the Coup and during the Coup, Mr Elizabeth noted that his family were supporters of the Democratic Party. He noted there were rumours that his brother was affiliated with individuals who were at the time distributing anti-government publications.

Mr Elizabeth concluded by stating that Mr Marengo is still employed in the national military service and is still armed.

Chairman of the Commission Gabrielle McIntyre noted that some details regarding the deaths of Sonny and Michael are still unclear but that it is evident they were killed unlawfully.

-Case 143: Brian Hoffman explains how his life was in danger and victimisation following a disagreement with former President Albert Rene

Brian Hoffman, the second witness to appear before the commission, presented a complaint in which he alleges that he suffered losses from his excursion business based on La Digue island as a result of being forced to leave the country.

He recalled that he was in Seychelles in 1976 for the independence and was advised by Gregoire Payet to start an excursion business on La Digue.

He then travelled to Seychelles from Australia and made the necessary arrangements with Mr Payet and he personally paid for the boat with travellers’ cheques. He noted that at the time he was earning a minimum R200 per day and a maximum of R900 from tourist excursions. Mr Hoffman continued to note that there were no public toilets on La Digue at the time and he then approached former President Albert Rene and asked him about the matter and he alleges that Mr Rene answered him in an arrogant manner, to which he replied by cursing.

One day, he was informed by a fellow skipper on another boat that Dambert Adrienne had requested to see him urgently and he subsequently travelled to Mahé and met Mr Adrienne near National House during the afternoon. Mr Hoffman continued on to state that Mr Adrienne was armed with an AK-47 at the time and questioned him as to what he said about Mr Rene. Mr Adrienne then warned that he should leave the country, and offered him $1000 to pay for his flight back to Australia advising him to stay off the radar until his departure.

“I’ve lost a lot of opportunities because taking tourists on excursions from La Digue, I was the first one who started that and today I would have been far,” Mr Hoffman noted.

Mr Hoffman claims that even in Australia, drug squads and even SWAT teams with machine guns were sent to raid his house and that the only thing that saved his life was his involvement with a union who helped him on numerous occasions.

In 1991, after he had a meeting with former President James Mancham who was overthrown in the Coup, Mr Hoffman travelled to Seychelles to meet with an opposition leader, three weeks ahead of Mr Mancham. He claims however, that he was detained for almost 5 hours at the airport and that during his stay, he was followed and under the surveillance of Jemmy Marengo.

He then moved on to note that Dambert Adrienne was “fooled to be in the Coup” as what was promised was not delivered. Mr Hoffman stated that he forgives Mr Adrienne for his role in the Coup, especially since he saved his life as well as the lives of others, which also led to him falling out with Mr Rene.

“Dambert died in a container. He always told me that Albert would not let him live with what he did. Once he goes after you, you die. He told me a story one day, he had a red pick-up truck full of bricks and he was involved in the fish business. We cried with each other and he told me that he wanted to buy a boat for fishing and went to Albert requesting a loan but he was asked by Mr Rene if “you want to remove a rock from my wall?” he said.

In the matter of the death of Michael Hoffman, Brian Hoffman, a relative to Michael Hoffman said that Michael was a friend to a South African called John Hurt who was spying for the system. Mr Hoffman claims that Hurt placed the call to Mr Rene to inform him of Michael’s plans to get guns from Sans Soucis.

Mr Hoffman also claimed that Mr Adrienne, prior to his death, confided in him that Hassanali, who mysteriously disappeared without a trace, was killed in the Seychelles People’s United Party (SPUP) head office.

He further alleged that Mr Adrienne informed him that at L’Exile, Mr Rene gave pills to the soldiers and participants of the Coup, but Dr Ferrari was also involved handed out pills.

“In 1976, 15 boxes of hashish and pills arrived at the SPUP office onboard Baobab from Tanzania,” he claimed, alleging that Dr Ferrari did not provide a truthful account to the commission.

Mr Hoffman was adamant that the commission should clear Mr Adrienne’s name for sparing his life and warning him. He also proposed that the only way to get credible and factual information is through the courts of law.

-Timothy Sinon dismissed on grounds of mistaken identity

The commissioners briefly heard from Timothy Sinon. Mr Sinon came to the commission over a week ago and told the commission that he did not know of the family and that they had the wrong person. After having heard from the witness again yesterday morning, he was asked to verify that Mr Sinon was a witness in his case and advised him that he was not a witness in the case and gave the commission a different name.

Mr Sinon, along with his family members, had already arrived at the commission before they were presented with the information. The commission presented its sincerest apologies to Mr Sinon and acknowledged that a proper investigation should have been carried out to determine the identity of the witness in the matter.

-Third witness; Case 14 complainant Holden Pierre

Holden Pierre, the third witness to appear before the commission yesterday, laid out his complaint in which he claimed that he was wrongly arrested.

Mr Pierre commenced by remarking that numerous roads in the Central region have been given names that relate to the Coup of 1977 and proposed that the commission order that such be revised.

He made reference to evidence given by Dr Ferarri, Jacques Hodoul and another former lands minister, presumably Dolor Ernesta, about lands acquisition under their management.

According to Mr Pierre, he, a Democratic Party politician who sat in the National Assembly of 1970, was arrested for the first time on June 28, 1977 just before midnight and he was detained at the Central Police Station for the night until 6am. The first Independence anniversary was to be celebrated later that day. He claimed that many others had been arrested that same evening.

As a businessman at the time, Mr Pierre recalled that his office was located in Kingsgate House, the same building in which Gerard Hoareau and Paul Chow worked at the time.

Mr Pierre continued on to state that he was arrested on November 15 along with numerous other inmates including Chow and Hoareau, possibly in relation to the MPR publication, an anti-government newsletter for which many people were being arrested at the time. He spent a month in prison and shared a cell with 6 other inmates. Mr Pierre claims that they had to keep watch at night on account that senior officers would visit prison during the early hours of the morning and point rifles at them through the cell door.

Mr Pierre made reference to the mercenary attack on November 25, 1981, noting that 2 weeks after the attack, a lot of people were once again arrested leading him to leave the country on December 20 under false pretences that he was to go on holiday. He noted that before the plane took off, a police officer came on board to verify who was travelling on the flight. He sought political asylum in England and claims that he too was under surveillance and his phone bugged while in England.

Mr Pierre noted that he was good friends with many Seychellois in exile in England and assisted other Seychellois who followed. Mr Pierre presented the commission with his detention documents.

Mr Pierre also claims that his insurance business was somehow taken over by the government on the grounds of nationalisation and claimed compensation for his losses. Moreover, he said that his other businesses, including a shipping and clearing business had to be shut down due to the fact that they were not viable without the insurance business.

Mr Pierre alleged that the government illegally acquired the property of numerous citizens and used them to its advantage. He concluded by noting that his family have suffered numerous incidents which can be considered as victimisation over the years after the Coup.

Commissioner McIntyre noted that they have requested evidence from Patrick Lablache, who worked at the Ministry of Land, and that evidence pertaining to his complaint will be heard during the November session.

The commission will resume with its 18^th hearing today as from 9am.