The Office of the Commissioner of Police has announced that the President has approved the appointment of Romano Songor and Ted Barbe as deputy Commissioner of Police.

Mr Songor and Mr Barbe are former NDEA Deputy Chief Officer to the now new Commissioner of Police Kishnan Labonte.

A group of 25 recruits from the Seychelles Police Academy (SPA) graduated on Friday after undergoing a six-month training programme at the academy.

The training started off with 29 recruits on April 3 of this year but unfortunately four recruits did not complete the course. Interestingly enough, 20 out of the 25 new constables are females while only 5 are males.

The graduation ceremony was held at the academy at Pointe Larue in the presence of Designated Minister Macsuzy Mondon, Commissioner of Police Kishnan Labonte, Commander of SPA Assistant Superintendent Ned Wirtz, officers of the force and families of the graduates.

It has become customary, over the years, to reward students who excel and perform above par in their studies during these types of graduations, and this one was no exception.

37-year-old Beryl Rapide clinched the awards for best overall recruit-in-training and best disciplined recruit.

To celebrate Deepavali (Diwali) the Copper Pot restaurant at Beau Vallon brought lunch (chicken briyani, ghee rice with chicken curry) to some 50 police officers at the Beau Vallon police station yesterday.

Deepavali is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs to mark various historical events and stories, but they all symbolise the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair.

It was the newly appointed Commissioner of Police Kishnan Labonte who accepted the donation from the owner of Copper Pot, Mangala Raja.

Mrs Raja stated that everyone needs to support the police officers in their dangerous task.

“Our business is in Beau Vallon and we support the community in whatever forms possible. Deepavali is also a time to share and care, so we found it suitable to share and care with the community police of Beau Vallon and Glacis police station. We are aware how tough the job of every police officer is and we take this Deepavali celebration time to appreciate their service through a common lunch supported by our business,” she said.

Manm piblik pe ganny demande pour pran zot responsabilite e swiv bann direktiv ek regilasyon ki’n ganny mete par lotorite lapolis pour fer ki sa enn selebrasyon Festival Kreol i deroul dan lord ek lape.

Bann organizater pe fer plizyer rankont pandan sa semenn pour ki 32enm Festival Kreol i vin en sikse e pandan en rankont ki ti fer yer asistan sirentandan (AS) Antoine Denousse, ki responsab seksyon trafik dan lapolis, ti donn detay lo laspe parking, larout pour louvertir ofisyel e osi laserenad.

I ti dir ki pandan gran louvertir ofisyel ki pe fer dan car park Sant Konferans Enternasyonal (ICCS) Vandredi le 20 Oktob aparti 7er diswar napa okenn transpor ki annan dwra antre e park dan parking ICCS.

«Tou bann parking ki annan dan zalantour ICCS pou disponib sa zour tel ki parking IDC, ansyen children’s playground, car park Stad Popiler e kot Amusement Centre,» Msye Denousse ti dir.

I ti dir ki semen pou fermen depandan lo lakantite dimoun ki annan e i pe demann manm piblik pour servi bann parking e evite met transpor lo trotwar.

«Pour louvertir sa bout semen devan ICCS ki antre dan ansyen children’s playground e osi sa bout ki sorti dan sa nouvo by-pass pou ganny fermen dapre nesesite,» i ti dir.

Pour laserenad enternasyonal ki pou konmans kot car park IDC i ti dir ki semen pou fermen dapre kot bann flot i sitiye.

«Pour konmanse nou pou ferm semen Bois De Rose totalman depi kot ron pwen Palais des Sports ziska kot ron pwen Le Chantier. Anmezir flot i desann e i ariv kot ron pwen Le Chantier, trafik sorti Mont Fleuri pou ganny bloke dan krwaze Bel Eau e transpor pa pou monte lo Laveni Senk Zen,» i ti dir.

The Seychelles Police Academy (SPA) has stopped taking in for treatment people with drug withdrawal symptoms, the Public Health Authority (PHA) has announced.

The facility has been returned to the Seychelles Police.

It was on August 29, 2017 that the PHA requisitioned the SPA dormitories for the Health Care Agency (HCA) to use as a temporary treatment facility for the management of people who were on drug withdrawal to cope with the surge in the number of cases.

Since its opening a total of 115 people (99 males /16 females) have been managed there, according to a joint communiqué from the PHA and HCA.

“All clients were satisfactorily cared for. The SPA facilities have provided the optimal environment for caring of this group of patients with the appropriate level of security and enough space for therapeutic activities,” says the communiqué.

The communiqué notes that since the beginning of this crisis, there has been a decreasing trend in the number of clients presenting with illicit drug withdrawal symptoms. Currently, the number of people attending HCA facilities with these symptoms is around 0 – 2 per day.

The communiqué states that the drop-in centres that are under Wellness Clinic remain functional.  “Illicit drug users wishing to be assisted and who are not registered with drop-in centres, are advised to register with the Agency for Prevention of Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation,” it says.

The PHA and the HCA have thanked the SPA for its understanding and support during this time.

‘I am one of the rare people to have made it full circle in the criminal justice system’

New Commissioner of Police, Kishnan Labonté, has officially sworn to uphold the Constitution of Seychelles and administer law and order without fear or favour.

The official swearing in of Commissioner Labonte took place yesterday morning at State House before the President of the Republic Danny Faure, Vice-President Vincent Meriton, Designated Minister Macsuzy Mondon, Speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Pillay, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Mathilda Twomey, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Nicholas Prea, other leaders in the National Assembly and high officials.

Also duly present were members of the commissioners’ family, namely his wife Jeanette Labonte, his son and daughter as well as his step-daughter.

As prescribed by Article 160(1) of the Constitution, Kishnan Labonte was last week nominated as Commissioner of Police by President Danny Faure, and his nomination was subsequently approved by the National Assembly.

With the ceremony yesterday, Mr Labonte officially replaces former Commissioner Reginald Elizabeth whose resignation took effect two days prior, on October 7.

Agents and officers of local law enforcement agencies have conducted a two-day special joint exercise whereby they intensified ship boarding, coastal patrols, airport luggage and body searches with emphasis made on trans-border criminal activities like human trafficking, drug smuggling, vehicle thefts, contrabands, wildlife related crimes at all points of entry as well as on the roads.

Dubbed USALAMA the exercise is the fourth of its kind and is done annually and was conducted here on Wednesday and Thursday at the same time as it was being carried out in other countries of the region which are members of the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (EAPCCO) like Seychelles.

One hundred and nine police officers of various ranks have been promoted.

The promotion ceremony took place at the Seychelles Police Academy last Friday in the presence of Designated Minister Macsuzy Mondon, who also holds the portfolio for Home Affairs under which the police falls.

During the ceremony 42 constables were promoted to the rank of corporal; 32 corporals were promoted to sergeants while 17 sergeants received the rank of sub-inspectors.

Ten sub-inspectors were promoted to inspectors; 5 inspectors to assistant superintendents and 2 assistant superintendents to superintendents.

The highlight was the promotion of one superintendent, Francois Freminot, to chief superintendent.

He will now take over the overall commander role of the CID, replacing one of the foreign officers, Christaan Marx, whose contract has just ended. Mr Marx has been mentoring Mr Freminot for about 2 and a half years now.

In his speech at the ceremony, the Commissioner of Police (ComPol) Reginald Elizabeth noted that the Police Force has a selection panel in place to consider promotion which is based on recommendation from respective Commanders and also on availability of budget.

Fighting illegal immigration, drug trafficking, tax evasion and criminality in general are indeed some of the most pressing challenges that governments all over the world face, and Seychelles is no exception.

To equip themselves with the knowledge and skills to combat such illicit practices, 20 young Seychellois from various departments such as Customs, the National Drugs Enforcement Agency (NDEA), the Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC), the Police Force among others will undertake a training course that will be held in the Italian Guadia di Finanza in the city of Orvieto from September 4-22, 2017.

The training is fully funded by the Italian government in support of the sub-Saharan African countries.

On the 13th July 2017 SGT Eddy Luc, CPL Aubrey Rapid, PC Kevin  Pierre-Louis, PC Anthony Mangroo and PC Jim Vidot  and their dogs received certificates for successfully completing a four-month General Purpose Police Dog Course.   

Congratulation to SGT Luc who was selected as the Best graduate of the course.