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afrol News, 14 March - The only independent newspaper on Seychelles, the weekly 'Regar', has been ordered to pay a fine of 3 million euros for writing critically about the Vice President's purchase of luxury properties. Publishing only 3,000 copies, the huge fine is sure to bankrupt and silence the newspaper. After a court orders the country's only independent newspaper to pay exorbitant damages, its days are numbered, the French media watchdog Reporters sans frontières (RSF) concluded in a statement today. The group has written to the President of Seychelles, France Albert René, to protest "the harassment" of the independent weekly newspaper 'Regar'. According to information obtained by RSF, the private weekly Regar was found guilty of "libel" in February 2002 and sentenced to pay Vice President James Michel 500,000 euros in damages. The newspaper had published, in November 2001, an article about the purchase, by the Vice President, at a very low price, of a luxurious home built at Sans Souci (Mahé Island) with government funds. This conviction, the latest of many, raises the total amount of damages the newspaper has to pay for "libel", or disrespect of the President and other high officials, to three million euros. "For a newspaper publishing only 3,000 copies, this is a death warrant," said Robert Ménard, secretary general of RSF. RSF called for an annulment of this sentence, "which is bankrupting the newspaper." 'Regar' refuses to submit to the institutionalised censorship prevailing on the Indian Ocean archipelego state. This has been costing the private weekly repeated fines each time the censoring authorities claim the newspaper is "out of line" with the restrictive national information policy. In January 2001, President René sued 'Regar' for libel, demanding 1.8 million euro in damages. In the lawsuits, René claimed 'Regar' libeled him when they suggested that he had stolen money from the government's Children's Fund and when 'Regar' criticised him for using expensive imported marble in the construction of a private residence. The Supreme Court agreed to expedite the cases and scheduled them to be heard in March 2001. Following diplomatic and public protest over the lawsuits, the government requested that the cases be postponed until January 2002. According to the third Constitution of the Seychelles, however, press freedom is guaranteed. The Constitution only limits press freedom "to protect the reputation, rights and liberties of people's privacy" and this in the "interest of the defense, public security, public morality and health." The fact however is that the state has a de facto monopoly on all the country's audiovisual media. The only television channel is public, and license fees for radio stations are so high that it is almost impossible to create a private station. In September 1998, members of parliament of the ruling party, the Seychelles People's Progressive Front (SPPF), opposed a bill proposed by the opposition calling for a reduction in these fees. The only daily newspaper on the islands, 'The Nation' is also owned by the government. The official media adhere closely to the government's position on policy issues and give "the opposition and news adverse to the government only limited attention," according to a US government report. In its letter to the President René, RSF protested against the harassment of 'Regar'. "Tourists visiting the Seychelles must know that the 'world's most beautiful beach' hides one of the Indian Ocean's most repressive regimes for press freedom," wrote Robert Ménard. The principal revenues of Seychelles stem from high class tourism.
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