Tuesday, June 30, 2015

29TH JUNE 1976 V/S 5TH JUNE 1977

The Birth
On the 29th of June 1976, as the Union Jack was lowered, the newly independent Republic of Seychelles was born. It was a joyous occasion heralded by carnivals, parties, fireworks and general festivities as a fledgling but proud nation moved “En Avant” towards a new destiny full of hope for a bright future. An enthusiastic People welcomed this new dawn and their new Democratic Republic by dancing and celebrating in the streets while enjoying all the freedoms that the new multi-party constitution guaranteed. There was no doubt whatsoever that the 29th of June was a happy occasion for all and the Seychellois people were intoxicated by happiness and hope on that day.

We were free! 1st Edition of the Nation Newspaper
On the 5th of June 1977, a group of armed goons led by a power hungry dictator led a military coup against the very coalition government of which he served as Prime Minister. They declared it as a new dawn for the Seychellois nation. This new dawn, unlike the 29th of June 1976 was not a joyful occasion. No one danced in the streets. Instead it was heralded by the murder of two Seychellois (Bernard Jeannie and Hassan Ali) followed by curfews; the first time Seychellois had witnessed such curtailment of their freedoms in their entire history. The traitors who perpetrated this heinous act of treason, all dressed up in military fatigues, patrolled the streets of our once peaceful country brandishing Russian AK47 assault rifles while intimidating the population. The fireworks that the Seychellois nation witnessed that day were not the beautiful dazzling ones that lit up the Seychelles skies on the 29th of June 1976 but rather, the fire spitting out of the muzzles of AK47 rifles as their bullets ripped into innocent Seychellois flesh and heralded in a new era of political murders and brutal dictatorship. There is no doubt whatsoever that the 5th of June 1977 was when the Seychellois nation was engulfed and suffocated by a veil of evil darkness that continues to haunt us all to this day.

The treasoners; Albert Rene, James Michel and others


Josette Hoarau