Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission (TRNUC) session |07 February 2020
‘Land expert’ Flory Larue gives an account on land transaction
Member of the National Assembly Flory Laure was a witness, as a land expert, before the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission (TRNUC) yesterday morning to give an account of her knowledge on land issues and transactions in Seychelles which she claimed smacked of corruption.
Witness Allen Rath, a former army personnel and ex-member of the intelligence unit at State House, former police officer Claude Bijoux and lawyer France Bonte also appeared before the commission yesterday.
Flory Larue – land expert witness
Honourable Larue told the commission that to be labelled as a land expert, not by her virtue, caused her some personal attacks. She claimed to have taken more than four years to research on land transactions involving state land and their history in Seychelles just to show how this has been abused for personal gain since the coup d’Etat of June 5, 1977.
Before making her presentation about the land issues and transactions, Hon. Larue said after the coup of June 5, 1977, which she alleges violated the constitution in place, all atrocities happened in the country was to the knowledge of President Albert Rene in his capacity as President and commander in chief of the armed forces. She noted that these atrocities are still being tolerated today as no actions have been taken against those involved. She said that in staging the coup, coup leader President Rene, and others committed treason against the state.
Commenting on the land issues and land transactions between the government and individuals, Hon. Larue said that after the coup of June 5, 1977, President Albert Rene among his many reasons given for organising the coup in his first declaration on the radio, never made reference to land as one of the reasons. She stated that Mr Rene, who was responsible for land at that time, had the power to put forward issues related to land.
Hon. Larue explained that people seeking to buy state land from government were always told verbally or in written statement that once owning a piece of land they were not entitled to obtain a second plot from government, thus state land was supposed to be sold only once to individuals who are not in possession of a piece of land.
She claimed that those in power did not follow what they had preached as former President Rene, she claimed, owned land, by using his position, bought many pieces of state land for him and his family which she also alleged some were undervalued. She alleged that some of the land transactions which Mr Rene, close allies and friends have been involved in with government, were on lease transactions of R1, with some placed as shares in newly formed companies.
“My aim is not to victimise or to pinpoint on anybody but I feel, like I have said, some people got the land because of their direct family liaison with either Mr Rene or with the ministers,” she said.
Hon. Larue also gave an account of the many pieces of land bought from government in the name of former President James Michel, former Minister for Lands Dolor Ernesta, former First Lady Sarah Rene and the former political party of the government in power, the Seychelles People’s Progressive Front (SPPF) and Parti Lepep (PL). She alleged that they had not followed the government policy ‘one man/woman, one piece of land’ and that some of their land, unjustifiably gained from government, should be returned to government. She also presented documents pertaining to some of the land transactions to the commission.
Allen Rath – (ex-intelligence for State House)
Witness Allen Rath, a former army personnel and ex-member of the intelligence unit at State House, was before the commission to explain the kind of work he did since he joined the unit in 1984 until he retired in 1994 to join to Seychelles Coast Guard.
Though he didn’t remember everything, he did say that he kept watch on people and collected information on their activities and reported them to his supervisor, Dobin Samson, at State House. Though sometimes armed, he claimed that he was not given a specific target to follow thus he was always on his own to pick his specific target. He noted that he worked alone though at times he was seen with Jemmy Marengo who was working in a different field of intelligence gathering.
Mr Rath, who is now a sergeant major class 1 at the Seychelles Coast guard, said his work, in trying to establish a relationship, brought him to all corners around the country. He claimed that when he performed the job, which he generally did so on foot, he had never encountered any threats that were directed towards the President. He said he delivered his report in sealed envelope and what happened to the reports was of no concern to him.
Mr Rath, who was trained in Russia for intelligence gathering, didn’t reveal the exact detail of what he spied on.
Lawyer France Bonte
Lawyer France Bonte appeared in Case 038 – Alain Ernesta, who had claimed that Mr Bonte was the person who sent somebody to Mauritius to the studio where he was recording his songs, to get a copy of the album. The songs were deemed unfavourable to the political party in power, and upon getting a copy of the CD through a third party, Basil Bouchereau, Mr Bonte wanted to buy off his master audio album for R500,000 in a bid to prevent him from releasing it on the market, thus to destroy it.
In his reply Mr Bonte said: “I can only affirm and confirm that I have never entered into legal relations with this gentleman.”
He claimed no offer was ever made to Mr Ernesta and he also had no knowledge of the CD in question, thus denying everything that Mr Ernesta had said against him.
“I don’t believe that I have ever seen that famous CD,” he added, noting that he had not infringed Mr Ernesta’s rights as he had never had a legal contract with him.
Case 0167 – Claude Bijoux (complainant)
Ex-police officer Claude Bijoux was the complainant before the commission yesterday and he said he was victimised and imprisoned during the one party state and was not compensated for the time he did in the police force.
He said it all started after the bomb incident at the ex-Reef Hotel in 1976. He was sent to follow a three-month dog training course in the United Kingdom. He stated that upon his return with his German shepherd dog, he conducted an investigation at the hotel to find out who planted the bomb.
He said that following a sense search conducted by the dog around the hotel, the dog then led him and three other Police Mobile Unit officers, to the golf course and later further up the hills of Capucin to a house where a man named Guy Pool was staying.
Mr Bijoux said that Mr Pool, on hearing their arrival, opened the door of his house and threatened them with an AK47 rifle. He claimed that after getting Mr Pool to calm down, the three police officers disarmed him and he instructed the dog to hold him by the arm. He noted that Mr Pool tried to break free and he got his dog to have a stronger hold on him and in the end Mr Pool had to be transported to the clinic for special attention.
He said that Mr Pool was found guilty of planting the bomb at Reef Hotel and was sentenced to life in prison only to be released after the coup d’Etat of June 5, 1977 along with other people connected with the case.
Mr Bijoux alleged that after the coup and because he was involved in identifying who planted the bomb, he was kicked out of the police force. He said that he was constantly followed and his residence at Rochon was searched. After three months of continuous “victimisation” he was arrested and detained for 18 months at the Union Vale prison where the condition was not favourable.
Upon his release, he said he was summoned by the state to stay off the street from 6pm to 6am. Among other forms of victimisation, Mr Bijoux claimed that apart from being followed, he was not able to find work in government, and he once had his car smashed by soldiers and he was also not compensated. He claimed that the harassment stopped after he started working for Mason’s Travel where he worked there for 33 years. His case is being investigated.
Patrick Joubert
