French Embassy in Mauritius asked to ‘clarify’ stand in controversial drug case

The French Embassy in Mauritius is being dragged in a drug case that is gradually taking the shape of a major politico-narcotic saga.

Reacting to a recent press conference by Maneesh Gobin, Attorney General, Labour Party President Patrick Assirvaden has urged the French Ambassador Mrs Florence Caussé-Tissier to “clarify the situation” related to the convicted Mauritian drug trafficker Jean Hubert Celerine, known as Franklin.

The latter has been accused of having funded the 2019 election campaign of local politicians, and who are today Ministers in the MSM Government.

The Attorney General had earlier refused to comment on the non-arrest by local authorities despite Franklin’s conviction by a Court in Reunion Island on drug charges, brandishing ‘confidentiality pact’ with the French authorities.

“The Labour Party is asking the French ambassador in Mauritius, on behalf of France and Reunion Island, to clarify the situation,” he said.

A court in Reunion Island, through an international rogatory letters, had recommended Franklin’s arrest following a judgment issued on 2 July 2021 by the Court of Appeal of Saint-Denis after an arrest warrant had been issued against him on 13 June 2019.

On 27 September 2019, the Court of Saint-Denis eventually sentenced Franklin and a Mauritian skipper, Jérémy Désiré Décidé (known as Nono), to seven years in prison.

According to reports, Franklin was not extradited.

Former Supreme Court Judge Vinod Boolell said confidentiality does not apply since the drug dealer’s assets have been seized and frozen by local Courts.

Constitutional expert Milan Meetarbhan, constitutionalist and former High Commissioner of Mauritius to the United Nations, said “the problem is that the government is not clear about what is going on in this case. Nobody wants to say officially what has been requested by France.”

Other experts referred to the case of Slovakian Peter Uricek, who was convicted in his country for a drug offence, but who was deported from Mauritius on 26 April 2022 and put on a Slovakian government plane.

Meanwhile, Franklin and his alleged nominee Rikesh Sumboo have both been arrested over… money laundering charges.

Political links

Over the past few days, the government has increasingly been accused of protecting the drug trafficker.

According to reports, the drug trafficker allegedly funded the election campaign and is close to several MPs of the MSM ruling party. This was further fuelled as a photo Sumbhoo and PM Pravind Jugnauth went viral on social media and were published by local print media.

Jugnauth reacted swiftly. Through his solicitor Shamila Sonah-Ori, he threatened those who are allegedly attempting to make a “malicious connection between his person and a money laundering case currently in the news”.

In the statement issued by the solicitor, Jugnauth is attributed to strongly condemn “these attempts which are pure fabrications, devoid of any basis whatsoever, malicious and whose only aim is to damage his reputation”.

The Prime Minister said he has initiated consultations with his lawyers in order to prosecute those responsible for “such highly reprehensible acts and false and defamatory statements”.

Opposition parties have claimed this is not the first time Jugnauth has been pictured with alleged drug traffickers (referring to MSM agent Geanchand Dewdanee – photo – who was arrested in the aftermath of a seizure of 135 kg of heroin in 2018. Dewdanee was eventually released on bail.

With inputs from Defi Media, L’Express, Le Mauricien