TRNUC hears from one witness in open session |18 November 2021

Mr Radegonde

The current Minister for Foreign Affairs & Tourism, Sylvestre Radegonde, was the only person to appear as a witness in yesterday’s hearing of the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission in open session, following two closed sessions.

Case 020 - Ah-Time family

Mr Radegonde was called in by the commission in relation to Case 020 – Ah-Time family in relation to the disappearance of Alton Ah-Time on September 13, 1984. The family had claimed that on September 14, 1984, when they went to register the disappearance of Alton at the Central Police Station, Victoria, they were instructed to file their report at the Beau Vallon police station where he (Mr Radegonde), as an inspector, was the commanding officer.

The family had also claimed that the car that Alton had been driving was later discovered and reported to him (Mr Radegonde) and that he (Mr Radegonde) also attended the scene and organised for the car to be forensically processed.

They also said that at the time he had also noticed disturbances in the soil at the scene but nothing was done to ascertain whether that disturbance was a relevant factor in Alton’s disappearance.

They claimed that they never heard from the police regarding the investigation into the disappearance of Alton and that none of the family members were even interviewed by the police.

They also believed that no proper police investigation was undertaken and in that respect they believe also that he was murdered by the state security services and the police deliberately chose not to investigate because they knew the security services were responsible for Alton’s disappearance.

To start with, Mr Radegonde said he knew the family very well. He stated that he tried to get the police file to refresh his mind on the incident as it happened so long ago, but the file was unavailable. He also acknowledged of being the commanding officer of the Northern Region, based at the Beau Vallon police station.

Mr Radegonde said he was informed about the incident and that he accompanied sergeant Thomas Banane, in charge of Crime investigation in the region, to the scene where the car Alton was driving was supposed to have been located.

He further said that he did not remember if the car was still there or had been taken away when they arrived at the scene which is where the present Story Hotel (Ex-H Hotel) is located at Beau Vallon.

He added that after inspecting the area from inland to the high water mark, they noticed, at the high water mark, some disturbances in the low vegetation and on the sand. He noted though, that they didn’t see any signs of any digging up of soil and sand in the area.

The former police officer added that Sergeant Banane did not report to him on any CID cases other than to the CID Unit at the Central Police Station, although he was stationed at Beau Vallon.

He added that the sergeant though kept him informed regarding CID cases in the community.

He said that with Mr Alton being declared as a missing person, the investigation took a serious turn and the first person that the sergeant interviewed was his mother.

He stated that he also went to visit Alton’s emotional mother to assure her that the police were looking into the incident.

Mr Radegonde said at that time, with the many cases of beatings, murders and disappearances happening in the country, the talk of the town was that the state security was behind these atrocities.

Given the fact that Alton was nowhere to been seen other than the car being found, his mother also had claimed that he had been kidnapped and killed by the state security.

He stated that nobody came forward to inform the police of what they knew about the disappearance and the investigation met a dead end.

He added that he went to discuss the issue with the Commissioner of Police at that time, James Pillay, who told him that the country looked bad with a rotten system and that he would be stepping down from his post and he (Radegonde) should do the same.

Mr Radegonde stated that the Commissioner did leave his post shortly after and that he (Radegonde) also resigned one year later after the disappearance of Alton.

He noted that the police at that time could not delve into the affairs of the state security or even interview them on any incident.

He said he also knew that Alton was being targetted by certain people.

Patrick Joubert