Africa-Press – Seychelles. All accused persons in the missing US $50 million case brought by the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles have been further remanded and will reappear before the court on March 8, while Frank Marie, charged in the Firearms & Prevention of Terrorism case,has been released on bail.
All these new decisions were taken by Chief Justice Rony Govinden yesterday when the accused appeared in court.
Counsel for the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles (ACCS) Anthony Juliette had applied for further remand of Mukesh Valabhji, his wife Laura Valabhji, Conrad Benoiton and Sarah Rene.
As for the counsels for the defendants and Mrs Valabhji, who is representing herself, they expressed their concerns regarding the length of time that the ACCS is taking to compile and provide all the evidence to the defendants.
At first, lawyer France Bonté, counsel for Mr Valabhji, did not object to further remand, however, later emphasised the constitutional right to liberty and alleged breach thereof because since the charges were filed the ACCS was still not able to provide all the evidence in their case and while they carry on compiling the documents Mr Valabhji should be released on bail until the ACCS is ready with the evidence.
Attorney Joel Camille, who was standing in for Daniel Cesar, counsel for Sarah Rene, asked the court to revisit the bail conditions for Mrs Rene. Mr Camille stated that the evidence disclosed so far are not in relation to Mrs Rene’s charge and since there is no clear indication from the ACCS of when the whole of the evidence would be provided, the accused is willing to compromise by patiently waiting until the ACCS provides all the evidence if the ACCS agrees to vary the imposed bail conditions, in particular to make monetary conditions less stringent and similar to conditions imposed on the fifth and sixth accused persons ‒ Maurice Loustau-Lalanne and Lekha Nair.
Mrs Valabhji indicated that the ACCS has initially stated that all the evidence will be provided within 30 days but so far only much smaller portion has been provided and the ACCS does not indicate how much more time they need to serve all the evidence.
She also asked the court to set her bail hearing for March 8, 2022 when her counsel will be present in Seychelles.
In reply, the ACCS reiterated its difficulties in timely compilation of large volume of evidence and assured that it is doing its best. The ACCS had no objection to Ms Valabhji’s application to have her bail hearing on March 8, 2022.
In his response to attorney Camille’s statements regarding bail conditions for Mrs Rene, CJ Govinden said bail is not a compromise and conditions were imposed taking into account the circumstances of the case.
He further stated that while it is appreciative of the ACCS’ predicament in relation to large volume of evidence, the defendants have the right to conduct their defence and the ACCS will need to eventually give undertaking regarding time limit and indicate exactly when all the evidence will be provided as it cannot go on indefinitely.
CJ Govinden ordered that all accused persons be further remanded and adjourned the case for March 8, 2022.
In the Firearms and Prevention of Terrorism case, theprosecutorfor the Republic, Steve Powles applied for extension of remand of the accused persons for a further two weeks stating that in two weeks’ time on March 11, 2022 the State will be able to serve the evidence upon the defendants.
With the view of Mrs Valabhji’s bail hearing set for March 8, Mr Powles asked that the bail application of Mrs Valabhji be served upon the State March 4, 2022 in order to provide the time to review the application. Mrs Valabhji stated that since she is representing herself at the moment and is incarcerated she may face difficulties in complying with the deadline and asked for some leeway to be able to send documents to court from prison. Mr Bonté agreed to assist Mrs Valabhji in preparation and service of the documents.
Mr Powles stated that the State will try to serve the evidence upon Mrs Valabhji on March 8, 2022 however, most likely it will only be possible to do so on March 11, 2022. Mr Powles stated that the State will also provide a list of ongoing further investigations with schedules and timeline thereof. He also provided the inventory list of items taken from Mr and Mrs Valabhji’s residence.
On his side, attorney Camille has objected further remand of Mr Marie. He provided two medical reports indicating that his client has several health issues including heart and eyes related conditions and needs prescribed medication. The counsel stated that Mr Marie, 82, is suffering further stress on his health due to being in prison. Mr Camille asked for Mr Marie to be released on bail with conditions requiring him to attend the court when necessary.
Mr Powles stated in reply that there is no indication that Mr Marie cannot receive his prescribed medication while being on remand; that according to the report in relation to heart condition, further follow-up report is yet to come and therefore this application is premature. Mr Powles suggested that Mr Marie be moved to the remand facility where better medical care can be provided to him.
Giving his order, CJ Govinden said new circumstances and facts of Mr Marie’s medical conditions were presented to the court.
Considering the age and health concerns of the accused, CJ Govinden decided to reconsider the issue of bail. He stated that he has weighted the new circumstances against the possible risks of allowing bail and concluded that provided medical information justifies release of Mr Marie on bail with the following conditions: weekly reporting to the Mont Fleuri police station on Monday at 10am; surrender of passport or identification documents to the Registrar of the Supreme Court; bail bond of R100,000; not to interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice; not to commit further offences while on bail; to stay at home apart from times when the accused needs to be in court or visit medical practitioner.
He also said the remaining accused remain remanded. As for Mrs Valabhji she will reappear before the Supreme Court March 8, 2022 for the bail hearing and the rest of the accused persons are remanded until March 11, 2022.
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