The former editor of the weekly newspaper Samedi-Plus, Dharmanand Dhooharika has passed away. Mamou (65 years old), for his friends, had a long career in the Mauritian press. Dharmanand Dhooharika was found guilty of contempt of court but was later cleared by the Privy Council.
Dharmanand Dhooharika joined the press through active politics. He was very active in the Mouvement Militant Mauricien (MMM) of Paul Berenger. A militant lalit soldier, he sold the militant newspaper at the auction in Goodlands. From then on, he left active politics and started to collaborate with Le Dimanche, and then joined Le Mauricien, working under Sydney Selvon, who soon became his “mentor”. He left Le Mauricien to help Sydney Selvon when the latter launched Maurice Soir. Thereafter, Dharmanand Dhooharika worked at Le Nation, Le Quotidien, Mauritius Today, Le Défi Plus, L’Hebdo, Samedi Plus, Impact News and collaborated to various other press titles. He was an old-fashioned journalist who wrote “on paper”, even though at Samedi-Plus, he started using the computer.
Mamou was a go-getter
Dharmanand Dhooharika had been found guilty of contempt of court, following a series of articles published on August 14, 2010 in the weekly Samedi Plus, of which he was the editor, against the then Chief Justice Bernard Sik Yuen. Sentenced to three months in prison for the crime of “scandalizing the judiciary”, he was to receive a wave of international support, notably from the Committee to Protect Journalist. A few days later, Mamou was transferred to the central prison like a common criminal. He spent 14 days in prison, before being released after appealing the Supreme Court’s decision. The management of Samedi Plus decided to take the case to the Privy Council. The Commonwealth Lawyers Association was a party to the Privy Council case and was represented by James Guthrie QC. At the trial, barristers Ravi Rutnah and Roshi Badhain represented Mamou alongside the prominent British lawyers as they had done in Mauritius. In their landmark judgment, Law Lords Brian Francis Kerr, Anthony Peter Clarke, Nicholas Allan Roy Wilson, Patrick Stewart Hodge and Lady Brenda Marjorie Hale were critical of the offence of “scandalising the court”, noting that the offence had been abolished in England and Wales.
In addition, the Law Lords argued that Dharmanand Dhooharika had not received a fair trial and that he had not acted in bad faith. He should have been given the opportunity to testify in court before his sentence was passed. He was denied this right.
