Letter to the Editor |08 May 2023
‘I am under surveillance’
I marked my appearance in the defence team for Mukesh Valabhji and his wife, Laura Valabhji, since June 2022 in Case CR 114 of 2021 ( known as the 50 Million Dollar case) and in case CR 4 of 2022 ( known as the Arms case).
Since their arrest, the Valabhji couple have had to change local counsel three times. Their 1st lawyer withdrew from their case within days and their second lawyer withdrew a couple of months later after British Investigator, Patrick Humphreys working for ACCS made certain allegations against him and on that same date, the Supreme Court Registrar revoked the licence of Laura Valabhji without any valid grounds, leaving both she and her husband unrepresented. Fifteen months later nothing has come out of those allegations made against their 2nd counsel. A few weeks after third local counsel, Mr France Bonte was retained, Mr Humphreys served him with a letter from ACCS stating that he was under investigation by ACCS and if he does not withdraw as Counsel for the Valabhjis, they would inform Court of that fact. Mr Bonte stood his ground and up to date nothing more has been said about that.
I formally joined the Valabhji’s legal team in June 2022 and even before appearing in court I have suffered several breaches of my constitutional rights including my right to privacy and security.
Ten months from then I would like to share with you and your readers, snippets of my personal experience as a member of the legal team of the Valabhjis.
The Constitution of Seychelles provides a very broad definition to the right to privacy. The right to privacy provides that “every person” which includes a lawyer representing his or her clients, has the “right” not to be:
(a) Searched or (have)his or her property searched without the consent of that person, nor to enter on the premises of that person without consent (unless there is a warrant issued by the court);
(b) Without a court order have his or her correspondence or other means of communication intercepted.
Should a search or correspondence/ communication intercepted upon a court order or warrant, this should be under the exceptions of the right to privacy, and necessary in a democratic society.
I have found out the hard way that this right practically vanishes into thin air if you happened to be the local counsel for the Valabhji couple, just as they and their daughter have had a number of their constitutional rights violated which has resulted in them filing 5 cases so far.
As soon as I made the decision to formally mark my appearance for the Valabhjis and booked my flight to Seychelles, I was placed on a target list. By the grace of Allah, I was alerted that I was on the target list and even warned not to return to Seychelles as I was on the radar of the group of informal “private eye” which I have since then christened as “Kapon”. I thanked the informer and I said, “if all of humanity was to gather together against me to harm me in some way, they would not be able to harm me except by the will of Allah as everything happens according to Allah’s will”. Thereafter and until now I started to receive notifications of unusual signing into my email account and I knew that Kapon was already on my tail and hard at work to infiltrate my communications.
Not long after the warning and attempts to intercept my communications, I started noticing out of place vehicles parked across from my home with its occupants just sitting there for hours on end and then new faces started to show up from across the road, just staring and watching my home. As time passed they became bolder and started coming into the compound to search the rubbish bin each time using different ways to access it. After they came up with nothing, they cooled off for a while and then when I was planning my next visit to Seychelles, I did so knowing that thanks to our efficient approval system, Kapon will be having ample advance notice of my travel plans so I was alert as I got to the airport.
On the flight a bald Caucasian guy sitting not far behind me attempted to take my backpack from the overhead locker. He had the audacity to seek the assistance of the air hostess to search the overhead locker and when I heard him say “that’s the one”, I checked to find he was identifying my back pack asking the airhostess to hand over to him. At this point in time I said “hold on - that’s my bag what do you want?” The guy gave me an embarrassing look and without saying anything, just sat down.
I decided that on the 2nd leg of my journey I will be the one to tag backpack dude and as we boarded the flight for Seychelles, I stayed close enough to get his name when he was giving it to the crew to put on the flight list as our flight has been delayed. Similarly when we landed, I stuck to his side and when he gave his details for his delayed luggage, I again got it plus I got his address registered as Beau Vallon.
Few days after arriving in Seychelles, backpack dude and his other Causcasian expert specialists friends came for a “hike” past my house and “coincidentally” stopped not far from my house for a good breather and to admire the scenery that was my home. I think with their expertise, they must have concluded that it was not worth anywhere near 50 Million of any currency!
For my next trip to Seychelles I chose a different airline to see if I will have company and once again as sure as day follows night, Kapon sent backpack dude to “escort” me from my adopted city to my hometown. Since then I have gotten used to having my own personal “bodyguard” each time I travel to Seychelles and back, and followed by car or foot. What I cannot get used to is how much it’s costing tax payers to have the Valabhjis’ defence team under surveillance in and outside of Seychelles as some of them travels in business class, when the average Seychellois are struggling to make ends meet. Many more can be said, but my recorded statements, photos and videos I have of my escorts are with my lawyer.
Despite all that I am going through, I will continue to represent the Valabhjis because I cannot just standby and allow injustice such as what is happening to my clients to happen because it could happen to anyone of us who makes it to the target list. Our forefathers, no matter what side of the divide one stand did not fight for decades to give us our constitutional rights for us to allow them to be trampled on as one pleases.
Apart from politics, there is also an anti-Muslim element that is starting to rear its ugly head in these two cases and with Laura being a Muslim and me as her local Counsel as well Muslim, we are double targeted.
I am bringing this matter to the forefront as such activities not only tarnishes the image of Seychelles and waste public funds but it violates the rights of the Valabhjis, my rights, those of my family and puts our lives at risk.
Samantha Aglae
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this letter are those of the writer and do not represent the views of the Seychelles NATION newspaper.