The book is now in wide circulation since the launching day. On December 10, 2021, I received a WhatsApp message announcing the book launch ‘Cachotteries, Propos d’outre geôle’ by Jean Marie Richard for January 26, 2022. The sender says that ‘it is the narrative of my struggle against police arbitrariness and system of judicial harassment which I endured during these past years’. It was signed ‘Zan mari’ which is the Mauritian Kreol orthography for the name of ‘Jean Marie’. ‘Mari’ in Mauritian Kreol means ‘a snotty person’. In fact, as we go through the book, we find that had J. M. Richard not been defiant, conceited towards the police and the judiciary, we would have never been able to talk of the violence of the colonial legacy of our police and judiciary system. This is what makes this book authored by Detainee BU 1983 (J.M. Richard) a breakthrough.
Human degradation
One typical approach to get a firsthand analysis of a book is to use the semiotic perspective which consists of identifying the potential signs, the verbal and visual cues which interconnect in various ways to convey the story information to the reader. For this publication, apart from the title and the name of the author, the front cover is illustrated by prison cell bars. In the same picture, there is a small window through which the prisoner can look up to the blue sky. This illustration takes an emotional toll on the reader and creates a mixed feeling of repression and a dim light of hope. The inside front cover shows the scanned copy of the ‘Certificate of Discharge from a penal institution’ which gives the detainee number (BU 1983), his name (Jean Marie Richard), age (58), height (1m 84), colour (brown), descriptive marks (tattoo…on both hands and chest…tatoo …on both legs) and the date of discharge (06.07.2017). The table of content lists 27 chapters. The chronology of events (p.113) gives a factual account of the different tribulations of J.M. Richard from September 2009 to January 2022. The Annexes contain twenty-two documents such as correspondences to the National Human Rights Commission, Press Communiqué, Police warrant, letters to magistrates and press articles. Rama Valayden, the then Minister of Justice, states in the demise newspaper La Voix Kreol (October, 2, 2009) that “Les créoles sont souvent victimes de brutalités policières” (“Creoles are often victims of police brutalities’’ my translation).
Narratives of Police Arbitrariness and System of Judicial Harassment
On September 24, 2009, J.M. Richard is brutalized by the police during the execution of an eviction court order against an illegal occupier of his property at Grand Baie. In his statement to the National Human Rights Commission (Annex p.161) he describes how he was driven to the police station and there in a room ‘a police officer in uniform whom I can identify came in holding a bed sheet followed by others. He covered me with the bed sheet and immediately after I was beaten up by many pairs of boots and heard voices namely Mustafeer’s telling me “gro kreol kouma twa bizin bourr zott dan site….zot pa gagn draw enan campmen e lakaz bor lamer” (‘rough Creoles like you must be parked in the suburbs…you have no right to own a bungalow at the seaside’, my translation). This is the main narrative of the publication. It is typical of racial brutality which has often been reported against the police in other similar cases.
The second narrative is about the system of judicial harassment. One day, J.M. Richard is summoned to the Court of Curepipe for infringement to the road traffic. He appears in court dressed in a ‘Presidential Shirt’, long sleeves shirt style inspired by the usual attire of Nelson Mandela. The Magistrate reminds the offender that he is not properly dressed.
-I find that you are too casually dressed to appear in Court Mr Richard.
-Could the Court provide guidelines on the dress code Your Honour?
-Ask your Counsel.
-Your Honour, may I with due respect draw your attention that this is a Madiba shirt and is a fund raising initiative for the underprivileged…And by the way my counsel whom I instruct, is aware that this is my normal working attire. And I do consider and reaffirm that is my fundamental right to choose to be dressed in what is considered as an iconic shirt paying tribute to a great freedom fighter and not garbed in on 18th century colonial attire.
The Magistrate asks J.M. Richard to repeat his statement. She remains silent. After a few seconds, she sentences J.M. Richard to a fine of Rs 100 for ‘contempt of court’.
Critical legal Studies
Critical legal studies are grounded into postcolonial perspective of the study of law. They are emerging field of studies in South Africa, USA and Latin America. Such a perspective tries to understand the relationship between post colonization, state crime and the over-representation of marginalized peoples. It shows that marginalized peoples have less capacity to utilize legal protections. Generally, the data shows that marginalized peoples are more likely to be apprehended by police, more likely to be prosecuted, more likely to be convicted, and more likely to be sentenced to imprisonment. A common theme running through these critical perspectives include a rejection of liberal legalism, legal objectivity and neutrality, and an ideological commitment to a contextual analysis of the law. At its core, the scholarship of critical legal studies has challenged the static monolithic categories constructed by liberal positivist law, and in doing so have insisted upon the necessity of recognising partial realities, subjugated knowledges, and subaltern positions. Let’s hope the publication of J. M. Richard will pave the way for critical legal studies.
References
Foucault, M. (1977) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. (London: Penguin).
Agozino, B. (2010). What is criminology? A control-freak discipline! African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies, 4(1), i-xx.