Mauritius’ Commissioner of Police (CP), Anil Kumar Dip, has come under severe criticisms after describing the decision of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) not to object to the release of political activist Bruneau Laurette as an “evil precedent”.
In a statement issued by the Police Press Office and relayed by Mauritius’ Government Information Service (GIS), Commissioner Dip argued that more than 337 people are currently in custody for drug trafficking.
“The quantity of drugs seized from them as well as their market value are less than the drugs seized from the car of Mr Jean Bruneau Laurette”.
“The decision of the Office of the DPP therefore creates an ‘evil precedent’ since the lawyers of the 337 drug traffickers may now come forward to apply for bail for their clients”, he said.
The Police Commissioner’s statement came a day after a Facebook page said to openly promote the MSM ruling party has levelled serious accusations of a political-judicial conspiracy between Labour Party lawyers and the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to release political activist Bruneau Laurette.
Ill-advised
The statement attracted a storm of criticisms – many stating that the Police Commissioner was “ill-advised” and “wrong in law”.
Former Supreme Court judge Vinod Boolell was cited as telling Defi Media that it was “worrying that a Police Commissioner openly criticises the decision of the DPP not to appeal against the bail ruling”.
Lawyer Samad Goolamally stressed that if the magistrate and the DPP have taken a decision, it must be respected. “By calling this decision an ‘evil precedent’, we are overriding the principles of presumption of innocence protected by our Constitution”, he said.
MMM MP Reza Uteem, also a lawyer, “strong” condemned the Commissioner Dip’s criticisms against the DPP and the judiciary.
“It is the judiciary that decides if someone should be released on bail and the conditions attached to the release. This is provided in the law and the Constitution.
“A suspect cannot remain on ‘remand’ indefinitely. Police tend to stall investigations for years. Police are bound to complete their investigation and file formal charges so that the suspect may have a fair hearing at the earliest possible”, he said.
Other lawyers said Commissioner Dip stayed silent when Geanchand Dewdanee, an agent of the MSM ruling party was arrested in 2019 and eventually released on bail despite being linked to the seizure of 119.5 kg of heroin worth Rs 1.8 billion.
Bar Council
A dozen lawyers have reportedly written to the Bar Council, calling for a special and urgent meeting. The aim of the meeting was to pass a resolution to publicly condemn “in the strongest possible terms” the attacks by Facebook group Sun TV News against former judge Eddy Balancy, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Rashid Ahmine, lawyer Shakeel Mohamed and the Senior District Magistrate of Moka.
They said the attacks by the group close to the MSM ruling party aimed at undermining the rule of law and the independence and authority of the judiciary.
The meeting will be held on 21 March at the Mauritius Bar Association (MBA) headquarters in Port Louis. In a statement to Le Défi Quotidien, MBA president Priscilla Balgobin-Bhoyrul explained that the association will listen to the grievances of its members before taking a position.
Sources: Defi Media, Le Mauricien
