Prison Riot Inquiry Continues as More Inmates Describe Beatings, Live Rounds, and Deliberate Targeting
Victoria, Seychelles – The third session of the Commission of Inquiry into the Montagne Posee prison events of December 5, 2024 heard from five more witnesses yesterday, with testimonies continuing to paint an increasingly damning picture of what allegedly unfolded inside the facility that night – and raising sharper questions about who gave the orders and why.
Convicts Freddy Esparon and Terry Pointe testified together in open deliberations, followed by inmate Jean-Luc Louis. Two additional witnesses appeared in camera.
Esparon said he encountered tear gas smoke when he left his cell in the Gaulette section around 4.30pm to collect his meal, forcing him and two other inmates back inside. When security forces eventually ordered them to surrender at around 5pm, the gate padlock had been lost in the panic, prompting officers to cut through it. What followed, according to Esparon, was not a professional security operation. Officers allegedly assaulted everyone inside before transferring them to the visiting area under verbal abuse and threats. He went on to witness gunfire and grenades being deployed against the prison.
Esparon was unequivocal on one point: inmates were not rioting. He described the word “riot” as a pretext used to justify the operation, and drew a pointed contrast between past disturbances where police had relied solely on tear gas and this event, where live ammunition was used. He said he saw no weapons in inmate hands at any stage.
Pointe, also on remand, said he was asleep when another inmate woke him around 6.30pm warning of police presence. Running toward the mess hall, he saw personnel in both police and army uniforms firing guns and deploying tear gas. He remained there until 8.30pm. In the early hours of December 6, he said he witnessed severely injured inmates being escorted by security forces – Francis Ernesta and Fabio Soopramanian on stretchers, and Rahim Jumaye needing physical support. He also claimed that a security officer named Dacumba threatened the group with two daggers while their personal belongings were ransacked or destroyed.
Jean-Luc Louis, housed in the Fregate section, described a chaotic scene of black smoke, inmates running, and the army arriving around 6pm ordering everyone to evacuate within five minutes – with the entrance blocked and on fire. Forces began shooting and throwing grenades. He described inmates being beaten, humiliated, and fired upon with rubber bullets after entry was forced, then stripped naked from 3am until midday on December 6. He said he witnessed Francis Ernesta – who later died – being severely beaten.
Notably, not one of the witnesses from either session has testified to seeing weapons in inmate hands. Not one has confirmed the kidnapping of guards that officials initially cited. And yet the operation that followed, by all accounts now before the commission, involved live rounds, grenades, daggers, body bags, and sustained physical abuse of a prison population that multiple witnesses say had already been subdued.
The commission continues. For the families of those who were injured, and for the family of Francis Ernesta who did not survive, the question is no longer just what happened. It is why it was allowed to happen – and who will be held accountable.
