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Manila Bulletin devider devider UK arrests man over 1985 murder of Seychelles politician

UK arrests man over 1985 murder of Seychelles politician

Published Aug 3, 2018 11:16 am
By Agence France-Presse A man was arrested in Northern Ireland on Thursday in connection with the assassination of an exiled Seychelles political leader in London three decades ago, the Metropolitan Police said. (AFP / MANILA BULLETIN) (AFP / MANILA BULLETIN) The force's counter terrorism unit, assisted by Northern Irish police, arrested the 77-year-old man at an address in Antrim, in the British province's northeast, on suspicion of conspiracy to murder Gerard Hoarau in 1985. Hoarau, the leader of an opposition party on the Indian Ocean island nation, was shot and killed with a Sterling sub-machine gun on the doorstep of his home in the North London suburb of Edgware on November 29, 1985. His supporters said he had received death threats, survived an earlier attempt on his life and that the Seychelles government was responsible for the shooting, according to historical media reports. Detectives previously arrested a number of individuals in connection with the investigation, but nobody was ever charged with murder. Three people were convicted in 1986 for perverting the course of justice in relation to the investigation. The Met said a review of the probe was initiated in 2016 from which "fresh lines of enquiry were established, leading to today's arrest". The new suspect had not been previously arrested as part of the investigation, it added. He was taken to a police station in south London for questioning. Hoarau left the Seychelles after former President France-Albert Rene took power in a bloodless coup in 1977. Rene subsequently ruled the archipelago, comprising some 115 islands scattered off the east coast of Africa, until 2004, turning it into a one-party socialist state.
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