The whole situation is a scandal, pressure must be kept on to get to the truth,

just hope all this politicing will lead to justice some day.

I have to also add the attitude of punitive transfer mentality among the senior ranks of the Mauritius police. You might be very good and professional and result driven, but there’s no recognition for your good work while being a detective. Once you disagree with a decision or rather indecision or approach in a case made by a senior officer, you are transferred to beat duties in the regular police with immediate effect. This has been the case many times and I’ve witnessed it first hand, as this was done to my former colleagues in the Mauritius police CID, even though they were very good and were bringing results, in difficult and dangerous cases. This MCIT team has been reshuffled countless tines, that we have now ended up with incompetents who can’t even stand in a Court of Law, worse of all, can’t even recollect something that happened few months back, while the more professional and dedicated detective has been transferred to regular police or riot unit as part of a punitive and protectionist mentality from the part of a handful politically-protected seniors. Also, after each regime change, one can expect massive transfers within the seceral police departments. Each government regime always have their guys in places they favour. Fortunately for me I can discuss this now as am out of the now shamed Mautitius police and fear no punitive actions against me. But sadly, there are families here who are directly suffering from the mentality that exists in the police and which has shown a lot of incompetence while dealing with a murder case. With what’s happening now or rather with all the international pressure, hopefully we will see positive changes and reform in the Mautitius police.
RIP Michaela. Hope that the culprits will be caught and justice done for you.

you can’t just keep trying people until you get the verdict you want. For all we know those guys had their confession beaten out of them and really are innocent. McGuinness of all people should be pretty familiar with that type of scenario.

One has to ask about the competency of the Commissioner of Police and his deputy, DCP(Crime), under whom the direct responsibility and management of the CID falls.. Those guys have never done beat duties in their police career and yet they are the top brass of the Mauritius police. What can you expect of many (not all) detectives in elite teams!!! Those top brass have been put there by political backing. After a few months or years in the military and at a very young age(20-25), with a good leaving cert and physical condition, they “passed” a test and with some political backing, are chosen to follow cadet courses in India, France and the UK top military colleges for officers and come back to Mauritius as Cadet Inspector in the police’s military branch and only a year after they are appointed inspector/lieutenant, depending on their posting. Those same guys will then be transferred to various departments as senior officers responsible for teams, that those same senior don’t even know the very basics of the job. How can they manage then. All those things have to change in the police and the prime minister is directly responsible for all those partial selections and promotions. As long as there is no major reform in the Mauritius police, that is, no communalism, protectionism and political interference altogether, we will continue to find those kind of incompetences witnessed in late Michaela’s case and trial. Sadly this is the very truth about the Mauritius Police, and due to a small handful of incompetents from the lowest ranks through to the CP himself, some very good and professional detectives out there are taking the shame and blame.

No sane person who followed the trial and has a basic understanding of the concept of innocent until proven guilty could possibly think that the defendants should have been found guilty.

He can’t possibly have followed the trial.

I can’t think of anything more impotent than politicians of one country complaining about the institutions of another country.

I wonder what his opinion would be if this happened in the uk or the north and they were 2 catholics on trail who claimed torture by the police. I generally support McGuinness but I thought this was a silly statement. I could be wrong but I reckon those guys didn’t do it.

One thing that strikes me is that this basically strikes out any hope of skilled PSNI detectives aiding in the case. The Mauritian authorities have said they would welcome such aid but the fact that the joint head of government of NI has now declared publicly who the killers are and directed they be convicted and put in prison it’s almost impossible to see how any evidence uncovered by NI officers could be used to convict them.

It’s a big setback for the investigation and a kick in the teeth to the hopes of getting justice. It’s only fortunate the Irish government have been more careful in their comments and Gardai can still, credibly, take up the request for assistance.

Would Martin like to retry all the poor innocent Irish and English people who had IRA trials with no jury and then shot in the head????? Justice I think not!!!!

Kind of ironic coming from a man responsible for negotiating the early release of so many convicted killers. He even lobbied for the release Gerry McCabes murderers. That’s perverse justice.

BTW I don’t blame Mauritians. Most are like most Irish, decent hardworking people. I think maybe anxiety over the effect the murder would have on tourism caused an overreaction. The two accused were arrested suspiciously fast. The whole process was speeded up so not enough care was taken. It’s a shame that justice wasn’t done, both for the family and for Mauritius.

I am a Mauritian living in Ireland for the last 6 years. I understand the sadness and anger of Michaela’s family and friends. I understand that the Irish public is outraged by the way the whole matter was dealt with in Mauritius and have a lot of sympathy for them. It however pains me also to see the papers every morning and see my country making the front page for all the wrong reasons. I see a hundred guests every morning looking at the papers, mostly about the Mauritius scandal. I overhear conversations about how ‘Mauritius’ has killed one of their own, how ‘Mauritius’ should be ashamed. I am ‘Mauritius’ too and have killed no one, so are my parents, family and friends. I consider myself a hardworking, honest and caring and believe that this makes me a typical Mauritian. ‘Mauritius’ did not kill Michaela, some idiots did and do not represent my country. Every country has its own idiots. So why is it that everyday, I find myself avoiding conversations might lead to the question :”Where are you from?” Would I lie if asked? Certainly not, I still have my pride and love my country. I just don’t have the same big smile anymore when saying it. Instead I find myself lowering my voice, give a straight answer and hope for the best. Most seem to feel ‘sorry for me’, some will avoid the subject, some will cut off conversation and ignore me and I can still live with that. However when someone I put my heart into looking after, would turn his back to me and walk away after saying ‘ I hope no one kills my wife tonight in this Hotel’, I don’t think I deserve that. I agree with all statement that the way Michaela died was horrible, that the enquiry in the matter was shambolic, and that the justice in Mauritius failed to give Michaela’s family some closure. But how did Mauritius suddenly become the worst country? I believe besides Michaela’s family and relations, the people of Mauritius wanted this case solved more than anyone else, I wanted this case resolved quickly and the culprits to be made an example of. This is the same sentiment that probably caused the Mauritius Police to try speed up things and make such mistakes. I was shocked when I first heard the story and so were my family and friends, the country was shocked and embarrassed. We are on the same side!! Why has my country suddenly become the punching ball of Ireland, something to throw all your frustrations at. Are there no crimes here? I recall stories of senseless screwdriver killings, mass stabbing and the more boring ‘shot dead’ stories. However, victims of those crimes tend to remain anonymous, so are their killers. Most stories will be featured a day or two with lines such as ‘man in his 30s from … stabbed to death”. Why is their death less important than Michaela’s, is it the location or the name? I remember reading an online story about a fellow Mauritian who was killed a few years back in Cork, shot in the head, no real explanation or reasons. I tried to look it up and typed “Mauritian killed in Ireland”… no results, all results led back to the murder in Mauritius as if his story had suddenly become a waste of space on the internet archives. I pushed it and typed ‘murder in Ireland’… Same result, it seems that Ireland is now crime free… Mauritius is now the place to be killed. How is that fair? A Mauritian paper had the bad taste of posting pictures of Michaela’s body. I know some tabloids in Ireland who would not have hesitated to publish these pictures if the had hold of them. This stuff unfortunately sells papers. I have never heard of this newspaper myself and now they are in all Irish newspapers, they got what they wanted. I wonder how many Irish people googled this paper on the day. The Irish press made this tiny newspaper known worldwide. they win. I was appalled by it. I hope the Mauritian government does something about it.
Also, what would you think if Mauritian politicians would interfere in irish Court rulings. This is not acceptable. There is certainly progress to be done in mauritius but that does not make my country a banana republic. The court did what they had to do. Despite pressure from all sides in getting the case closed fast, the judge assigned to this case took the time necessary to conduct a full trial. The jury spent weeks isolated from their family and did what they were asked to do. The lawyers did their job of defending and proved that there were no sufficient evidence to prove their clients were guilty, the prosecution would have done their job too if they were not let down by the investigation and the lack of eveidence. The fact is that these 2 men cannot be re-tried for the same offence and Irish politicians have no jurisdiction over the matter. Even the Mauritian prime minister would not have the authority to refute this verdict. It is awfully sad, but very unlikely that justice will be made in this case, the police did too little too late. I hope the family of the victim will find closure in a different way.
Back to Mr Mc Guinness, don’t you Irish people believe that your politicians should be focusing their attention on pressing local issues rather than stirring up s**t in other countries? Your politicians are taking a break from solving their own issues and delivering on their own promises by directing people’s attention somewhere else…
To those 8000 or so fans who ‘like’ ‘ Boycott Mauritius, I wish you could talk to those million tourists who visit the country every year and ask them for their feedback. Mauritius had a record season this year, we must be doing something right. It is your personal choice to visit or not visit the country. I will respect that. For the rest, please don’t put all Mauritians in the same basket. We are as sorry as we can be.

MMcG doesn’t do irony. What about justice for Jean McConville? He likes to pick and choose who gets justice it seems.

“Presidential candidate Martin McGuinness was confronted during his canvas in Athlone this afternoon by the son of a member of the Irish Army who was killed in an incident after the kidnap of Don Tidey in Ballinamore in 1983.
David Kelly, whose 35-year-old father Paddy was shot dead, called on Mr McGuinness to name those responsible.”
He has no idea who killed Paddy Kelly, but knows who the killers were on the other side of the world in Mauritius.
Columbo would be proud!

Well said John

Pot – kettle – black !!!!

Fagan’s are you serious when you say that McGuinness has more political Capitol than Our Taoiseach..? How could the leader of Sinn Fein who were the political wing of the I R A and who only have a small probation of the vote 13% in the 26 counties have more political clout! Remember Ms. McAreavey had an Irish Passport was an Irish citizen and hence the responsibility of the Irish Government to intervene with Mauritus.

Personally i think this is about justice for Michaela, and if nothing else Martin Mc Guinness is not your usual run of the mill person, and let’s face it Mauritius is no run of the mill Country, it needs some serious talking, and if i remember it was the lawyer for the prosecution who went on about the past injustices in England, so whats good for the goose and all that, just hope he kicks ass…

The hypocrisy of McGuinness is boundless, he is part of a state that subverts it’s own courts in order to intern veteran Republican Martin Corey. The Mauritian High Commissioner should tell McGuinness to look to the undemocratic and sectarian statelet before he lectures anyone else on human rights and the rule of law

Do you know it’s fairly sicking to see the comments of some those above me who have to have a dig at MMcG and his past at the expense of Michaela McAreavey. FFS we all know what McGuinness did but he is trying to right a miscarriage of justice in a foreign country for a young bride and all ye can do is snipe at McGuinness. Hope ye are proud of yourselves!

Fagan’s are you serious when you say that McGuinness has more political Capitol than Our Taoiseach..? How could the leader of Sinn Fein who were the political wing of the I R A and who only have a small probation of the vote 13% in the 26 counties have more political clout! Remember Ms. McAreavey had an Irish Passport was an Irish citizen and hence the responsibility of the Irish Government to intervene with Mauritus.

Don’t think McGuinness recognises the courts ! !
How dare he comment on this case , he’s just seeking free publicity , again .
Him and his murdering republican army. !!

Reading details of this trial reminded me of the Brits system of justice after IRA bombing attacks on their mainland in the 1970s. Pick up a few “Paddies”, beat the crap out of them, forced to sign statements admitting guilt, put them in a media show trial , lock them up and throw away the key. All for political expedience. Marty now belongs to the political establishment as reflected in his comments.

Mac Stout is an expert on good judgement especially when it comes to who should live and who should die. He is over qualified. If the poor family are relying on people like him for support the the families of his victims must want to vomit.

“Perverse verdict”? Guilty or innocent, the police investigation was so botched and the trial not conducted as well as it could have been, there was so much reasonable doubt that a conviction couldn’t and shouldn’t have been secured. Anyone else think that the police didn’t carry out thecincestigation properly because they thought if they got a confession the case would be done and dusted?

Any 5 year old who followed that trial should have seen the two accused could not have been acquitted. But I suppose then again Sinn Fein have never really understood the Courts and Justice systems.

I had no idea this trial was televised. I had to rely on Tommie Gorman’s reporting for info. John McAreavey was in court for all the trial. The defence tried to cast suspicion on him, did they not? MMcG close to his family. He’s looking for a retrial. I wonder how many of you castigating MMcGuinness voted to amend our constitution to accommodate the GFA, or are you all part of the 8% who voted against it.We were told to move on for Queen Elizabeth’s visit. MMcG plays a major role in the Peace Process who is highly respected around the world, and treated accordingly. Taoiseach is a diddering idiot who is also treated accordingly.