Madam Speaker, it has always, always been the practice before 2015 for the Police to be represented either by the Attorney General’s Office in any court

19 proceeding or the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to undertake criminal proceedings before any court of law. That was always the case before 2015. I am informed by the Commissioner of the Police that from August 2021 to November 2024, the former Commissioner of Police departed from usual practice and decided he would retain the services of five Counsels and one Attorney from the private practice in eight cases for an amount totalling Rs14,288,825.30, and the names are as follows, Madam Speaker – (i) Mr Amar Oozeer, Counsel, received Rs34,500 inclusive of vat; (ii) Mr Desire Basset, Senior Counsel: Rs2,991,437.50 inclusive of vat; (iii) Mr Yashley Reesaul, Counsel: Rs86,250 again inclusive of vat; (iv) Mr Ravi Raj Yerrigadoo, Counsel: Rs603,750 inclusive of vat; (v) Mrs Shamila Sonah-Ori, Attorney: Rs4,330,000 inclusive of vat, and (vi) One King’s Counsel from the United Kingdom: Rs5,521,447.56 plus an amount of Rs721,440.25 for his accommodation and air tickets. I should also say, Madam Speaker, that previously, if ever there was a Counsel from the UK, especially for cases that go to the Privy Council afterwards, he was put up under Government bungalows at no cost. Why were Rs721,000 spent here? I am a bit puzzled, to say the least. Madam Speaker, our country has a well-established democratic system with clear separation of powers between the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislative. Institutions like the Attorney General’s Office and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions operate in full independence and have always been providing legal advice to the Public Sector, including the Police, free of charge – absolutely free of charge – because this forms part of their professional duties. The practice of hiring the services of private lawyers and bypassing the Attorney General’s Office and the Office of the DPP by the former Commissioner of Police under the previous Government, as I said, cost the taxpayers Rs14,288,825.30 and this has been clearly done to undermine the professional integrity of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and relevant institutions, and this should be severely condemned.

20 Madam Speaker, it is clear the previous Government had a problem with an independent Director of Public Prosecutions. Who can forget this unbelievable attempt to try to arrest the former DPP? He had to run away from his home; his wife had to pull the door because they were trying to force their way in to arrest him, and he had to go through a back door and go to a Judge in Chambers to get protection. This is what happened under the government of the MSM! This was unprecedented! It has never happened in any Commonwealth countries – never happened! But you know, with the MSM, everything is possible. This is why I speak of Murphy’s Law – what will not happen will happen. This is Murphy’s Law. It was, in fact, to my mind, a much broader Machiavellian strategy to undermine the independence and integrity of our institutions with the sinister motive of exerting absolute control over them. Over the past decade, they undermined with ruthless propensity the credibility of all our institutions, just like tinpot dictators, hell-bent on transforming the country into a rogue state. This is what we call “l’État voyou”. They planted their toadies in most of the important institutions of our country, and these toadies were at the beck and call of their masters, doing their bidding. Let me assure the House and the population at large that we will not condone such practices – nobody on this side! The public expects our institutions, including the law enforcement agencies, to act in total independence and transparency and remain accountable to restore the confidence of the people of this country in them and to restore the respect of the international community as well. Thank you.

Thank you. Hon. Third Member for Grand’Baie & Poudre d’Or! STATISTICS - ALLEGED FALSIFICATION - ENQUIRY