Judicial inquest into Chellen’s death |24 September 2014

A judicial inquest under S347 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the matter of the death of Mauritian Harmon Chellen is needed as Attorney General Rony Govinden is of the opinion he died while in police custody.

This came out yesterday in a press release which was not sent to the Seychelles Nation but which we were able to get a copy through other sources.
The press release reads:

“The police upon completion of their investigation forwarded all, the relevant investigative files relating to the criminal complaint against and the ensuing death of Mr Chellen to the Attorney General’s office.

 “The Attorney General has scrutinised the files and he is of the opinion that the deceased has died whilst in police custody.

“Accordingly, the office of the Attorney General has taken a decision to open a judicial inquest under S347 of the Criminal Procedure Code, in the matter.

“In the inquest witnesses would be summoned to give evidence under oath before a Magistrate as to what they personally know in this matter. The Magistrate would thereafter give a finding on the facts and circumstances relating to the death of the deceased.

“Any legal decision relating to this matter would be taken after the finding of the inquest.
“Any person who feels that they would be able to contribute further by giving relevant evidence in the inquest may contact the police wherein a statement would be taken from them before they testify.”

Director of the Mauritius Tourism Academy known as ‘Ecole Hotélière Sir Gaetan Duval’, Mr Chellen died on Monday August 18, 2014. His body was found floating in the vicinity of L’Islette at Port Glaud.

A police statement release the same day, wrote that the incident happened while the police were starting to investigate a sexual assault case reported earlier in the day of which he was named as suspect.

The incident reportedly happened the previous night (Sunday) at the Constance Ephelia Resort at Port Launay where Chellen was staying.

The 52-year-old was in Seychelles as the guest of honour at the Seychelles Tourism Academy’s graduation ceremony for a group of students who had completed their advanced diploma in hospitality management.