A political affair against the backdrop of a possible cyber-espionage project is splattering power in Mauritius as well as Mauritius Telecom, the public telecommunications company which is one of the “top ten” economic operators on the island. Its director general, Sherry Singh, resigned on Thursday, June 30, on the grounds that the Prime Minister, Pravind Jugnauth, would have asked him to install equipment from a foreign country to monitor the activities and read messages from Internet users entering and leaving Mauritius.
With our correspondent in Port-Louis, Abdoollah Earally
The managing director of Mauritius Telecom said that it is too much. This one, argued Sherry Singh, after his resignation ” is against the interest of the citizens, the country and some friendly countries (…). I can’t sell my country “, he asserted.
Surveillance equipment
The boss of the public telecommunications operator claims that the Prime Minister wanted to authorize a foreign country to install equipment that would monitor and decrypt internet traffic entering and leaving Mauritius. The managing director of Mauritius Telecom insists that these are not assertions “ lightly “.
These are all the more resounding because until very recently Sherry Singh was an influential man in the entourage of power, very close to the Prime Minister. Pravind Jugnauth who affirms, for his part, that his former friend “ is lying and urged him to report the matter to the police.
The shocked population
A case widely echoed in the Mauritian media, which shocked the population and the political opposition. Former Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam believes for his part that “ if true, it’s high treason to the state “.
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