New police team will take over the investigation into the murder of Michaela McAreavey

Navin Ramgoolam , the prime Minister of Mauritius has said that a new police team will take over the investigation into the murder of Michaela McAreavey. Superintendent of police Yashwantdev Cally, a former officer of the MCIT, has was asked to conduct the new investigation into the murder of Michaela Harte. He will be assisted by Inspector Roland Dabeesing.

During his meeting with Ireland’s Ambassador to Mauritius, Brendan McMahon on Friday which also included Mauritian Foreign Minister Arvin Boolell, the Prime Minister affirmed that there would be a thorough police investigation into the publication of crime scene photographs of Mrs McAreavey’s body which appeared in the Sunday Times of Mauritius. He said anyone found to be involved faces prosecution.

The Prime minister also confirmed the intention of the Mauritian authorities to establish a judicial enquiry to examine the case and said that a new police team would be appointed to carry on the investigation.

“The (Irish) Government is happy to consider any approach from the Mauritian authorities for assistance as the enquiry and investigation proceed, bearing in mind the need for due process and to avoid any action that might prejudice a future prosecution. “We are ready to liaise with the authorities in Northern Ireland, in this regard,” Brendan McMahon said after the meeting.

Meanwhile the editor of the Mauritius Sunday Times has been released on bail after he fainted in court. Imran Hosany, who is both editor and director of the newspaper spent the night in hospital after he collapsed inside a Port Louis court room earlier on Thursday.

Arrested last Wednesday morning, Hosany is charged with causing outrage to public and religious morality by publishing the graphic crime scene photos.

The offence carries a punishment of up to a year in jail. He is also accused of assaulting an Irish photographer. The editor denies the charges.

Around 12 black and white images of the crime scene were published by Hosany’s newspaper including a large front page photograph of Mrs McAreavey taken after her death – under the headline “exclusive”.

Police attempting to trace the source of the photos last week seized computers at the Sunday Times newspaper offices.
The editor later issued an apology, claiming the motive for publication was not sensationalism but was “to recall that such a heinous crime remained unpunished”.

That apology was rejected by the Harte and McAreavey families, who in a statement said, “The hurt the newspaper has caused… cannot be undone.

“As an editor, he made a calculated decision to use photographs and images that no responsible media outlet would have touched.”