Under Lock

Editorial

Nobody in his right mind would have given any credence to the doubts expressed last Saturday and thereafter by several government ministers about the authenticity of the report of the judicial inquiry into the death in mysterious circumstances of Soopramanien Kistnen in October 2020, excerpts of which, for want of the full report, have been reproduced by the media. That latest spin by the government ministers in a clumsy exercise of damage control has only confirmed what most people had been suspecting: the former MSM activist posed too great a risk because he apparently knew too much about too many people in high office and too many things that could potentially rock the boat.

Magistrate Vidya Mungroo-Jugurnauth has in her report demolished the initial conclusion of suicide by the police. Testimonies and findings unravelled during the judicial inquiry have brought to light the circumstances and the possible motives for the murder of Soopramanien Kistnen, the “abhorrent” dysfunctions at the level of the police, the inexplicable and implausible absence of images which are supposed to be captured by the ultra-sophisticated Safe City cameras and which would have shed light on the whereabouts of the victim on that fateful day he was murdered, the controversy surrounding the forensic autopsy, the wheelings and dealings with regard to the Covid Emergency Procurements and, not least, immigrant voters and campaign expenses that would have been above the limit as prescribed by law.

What the findings of the judicial inquiry also inform us is that the governance system has been locked, institutional dysfunctions have become rife, and in such circumstances, it is no wonder that the public perception for quite some time has been that nothing would come out of the present mess given that all the investigative agencies have been placed under the heavy hand of the political establishment so as not to jeopardise the professional or political careers of those who might have been involved in the cases that have shocked public opinion – and even threaten the existence of the government itself. Read More… Become a Subscriber


Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 21 October 2022

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