In the National Assembly   Individuals arrested in bureau de change thefts deported   |30 June 2022

The Minister for Internal Affairs, Errol Fonseka, has said that the two individuals arrested in connection with thefts at two bureaux de changewere in fact a 36-year-old Jordanian woman and a 29-year-old Egyptian man and they were deported on Wednesday June 15 at 11pm on an Emirates flight out of Seychelles.

Minister Fonseka gave this information in the National Assembly on Tuesday when answering a private notice question by the leader of the opposition, Sebastien Pillay, who wanted to know what had happened to the two individuals.

Minister Fonseka noted that the first theft incident that happened at Beau Vallon was reported to the police in the same district on May 24, 2022 at 3.50 in the afternoon. A similar theft happened on the same day around 5pm and it was reported to the police in the same district.

“The police reacted quickly and around 10.48 that same evening, arrested the two suspects and also retrieved the stolen money from them,” the minister said.

Minister Fonseka informed Assembly members that based on information from the Attorney General’s office as well as the police, a decision was taken not to prosecute the two suspects but rather to deport them while the money retrieved was handed back to its rightful owner.

At this point Minister Fonseka reminded Assembly members that the government has nothing to do and will never interfere with any decisions taken by the Attorney General’ office and the Commissioner of Police and this is per Article 76(4) of our Constitution.

Asked if there has been any attempts or contacts made with the Egyptian authorities to look into any possibility to exchange the Egyptian national with one or all three Seychellois nationals in the Egyptian jail, Minister Fonseka remarked that the two cases are completely separate and different in severity and there has been no proposition in this regard and that he is not in a position to make any comment on the matter.

But were there any conditions attached to the deportation of the two foreigners? Minister Fonseka said they would not be allowed to travel to Seychelles again and further to that they will be arrested in their country and an alert on their activities has been sent through Interpol.

Marie-Anne Lepathy