TRNUC hears two complainants in 200th session |16 September 2021
Mr Johnston
Gessley Cecile, as a complainant in his Case 0246, was the first person to appear in public in the 200th session of the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission yesterday morning.
His appearance was in relation to ill treatment he endured at the hands of some senior police officers while he was a police officer.
He stated that as an officer working at the La Digue police station, he once ordered his subordinates to arrest some people involved in a family dispute and also one person involved in theft and for doing so he was transferred to the Baie St Anne police station for no reasons.
He noted that some of those people had connection with people in high offices and also in the highest echelon of the police force.
The Diguois, who was a police sergeant at that time, stated that while on Praslin in 1986, he did his work as was recommended and after conducting some arrests, he was once again victimised by high officers in the police force and was transferred to the Mont Fleuri police station on Mahé.
He noted that a high ranking police officer once pointed his revolver at him because he (Cecile) wanted to question him about his (Cecile) transfer.
Mr Cecile said some of the high ranking police officers had personal issues with him.
He further said that he was demoted from the rank of sergeant to corporal for no valid reason.
He added that he left the force following his demotion.
He added that some police officers at that time gave bad orders to subordinates under their command which he noted was a pity.
He stated that he was transferred as he had witnessed so many incidents including some police officers’ involvement in drugs and that did not please some of his commanders.
The chairperson of the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission
(TRNUC), Gabrielle McIntyre, informed the 63-year-old former police officer that while his case was an internal and personally motivated dispute, the commission has no jurisdiction to investigate such cases as the mandate is related to incidents linked to the coup d’Etat of June 5, 1977. She noted that the commission will assist him though in his case.
Complainant Gary Johnston
Complainant Gary Johnston was the second person to appear in open session of the TRNUC yesterday, in Case 0227 filed by him regarding his entanglement with the army during the one party state era.
He explained that in 1982, a few months after the mercenary invasion, he decided to take a swim at the Carana beach to freshen up following a night out with friends.
Mr Johnston said, being a bit tipsy after a few drinks, he lost the track which led to the beach and ended up in front of the gate of a temporary army camp which had been erected at Carana.
He said after being stopped by the officers, he put his hands up, while they asked him to come inside of the gate, since he was still outside.
Born in Tanzania, Mr Johnston said he spoke Swahili to the Tanzanian soldiers, something which he said could have turned out badly since it was only a few months after the mercenary invasion and based on his complexion, he could have had been mistaken for one of the mercenaries.
He was put in army vehicle and taken to an army camp – he could not identify – where he was questioned by army officers regarding his identity.
He identified one of the officers as Macdonald Marengo, telling the TRNUC that he (Marengo) slapped him in the face.
He was then handcuffed to a tree with his hands behind his back, while being constantly beaten in the stomach and questioned.
He was kept in that position overnight, until he was released in the morning on the order of Ogilvy Berlouis, before being taken to the Central police station where he was questioned by Commissioner of Police James Pillay, before being released.
Mr Johnston also talked about two other incidents which he said were politically motivated.
Firstly, he told the story of how his family who were Democratic supporters were harassed and assaulted by supporters of the Seychelles People’s United Party (SPUP) just because his grandfather erected a British flag in 1972 during the visit of Queen Elizabeth.
He also spoke about his arrest, along with his grandfather by the militia during the one party state era just because they missed the curfew by a few minutes and were a few metres away from their home at Plaisance.
He said they were arrested by the militia, just a few metres away from their home, and were escorted all the way down to the Radio Seychelles at Union Vale, where they spent the night in his grandfather’s car, before getting permission to leave the next morning.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Mr Johnston proudly noted that he had already forgiven his aggressors.
Patrick Joubert and Roland Duval