Since mid-October, a series of exchanges between politicians, journalists, judges, lawyers and police officers, broadcast by an enigmatic account on social networks, have been making headlines on the Indian Ocean island.
Hidden behind a wax mask set with a thick moustache and curly hair, “Mister Moustass” is the talk of Mauritius. This mysterious mole, who introduces himself as “an ordinary civil servant since mid-October, dozens of phone recordings have been posted on social networks, embarrassing the authorities. The videos, broadcast on an almost daily basis, lift the veil on “political cooking between power brokers and apparatchiks.
The staging is worthy of a Netflix series. After an epic jingle featuring the white mask, the faces of the two speakers are displayed. Politicians, journalists, judges, lawyers and police officers, recorded without their knowledge, speak in turn on various subjects. Here, it’s a question of falsifying an autopsy report to cover up a police murder. Here, they send reports directly to the Prime Minister’s wife. The latest video, published on Saturday November 2, contains an exchange between the head of government himself, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, and a magistrate in charge of the investigation into a murder involving a former minister of his government, on the eve of a hearing. In defiance of the rule of separation of powers.
Mauritians in shock
On this Indian Ocean island, where the democratic system is one of the most stable in Africa, the “Moustass Leaks are a bombshell. “It’s mind-blowing, testifies to the Figaro a resident working in the tourism sector, for the last ten days, it’s been like being in a film in Mauritius”.. “We all knew there were questionable practices in power, but to hear it from the mouth of even a police commissioner or our prime minister is pretty violent.”confides a lawyer very familiar with political life. “These leaks reinforce our doubts and suspicions. Many people are in shock”..
Apart from a handful of speakers, the main defendants deny the veracity of the recordings. The government, the bar association and the police have all pointed to falsification by artificial intelligence. A defense that makes Mauritians smile. “AI would still have to master Mauritian Creole”.scoffed one resident. All the more so as, in response to the outcry caused by these publications, the Prime Minister’s office announced on Friday the suspension of social networking in Mauritiusuntil the next legislative elections on November 10, citing a question of security. “national security”. Before the decision on Saturday, the Prime Minister’s Office explained to press groups that the purpose of the measure was to reinforce the security of the office’s communications, as the direct lines of the Prime Minister and his secretary were “compromised”according to L’express Maurice . A half-hearted admission?
Between the authorities and the whistle-blower, a race against time is underway. On October 25, the Council of Ministers set up a commission of inquiry to shed full light on the matter. “the alleged misuse of telecommunications infrastructures and the alleged publication and dissemination of telephone conversations on social networks and other platforms”. In other words, track down the mole.
Sniffing and political squabbles
On the island, speculation is rife as to her identity. Among the names, Sherry Singh’s is the most pronounced. This former CEO of Mauritius Telecom, the island’s incumbent operator, was one of the protagonists in an old affair known as the “sniffinga computer espionage method for capturing and modifying data on a network. This case, dating back to 2022 but mentioned in several of the wiretaps broadcast by Missie Moustass, had implicated Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth.
In April 2022, it was revealed that a device had been installed on the Mauritian network to access the data of connected Internet users. The origin of this device was unclear, but the following summer, the former CEO of Mauritius Telecom resigned with a bang, accusing the Prime Minister, who had been in power for 7 years, of having been informed of this system, which would give him access to the data of his own citizens. While the executive and majority members of parliament denied all allegations, the international organization Transparency Mauritius called for an inquiry and urged Sherry Singh to provide evidence of his accusations, “if provenwould be a sign of “totalitarian tendencies at “highest level of government.
Did Sherry Singh want to compromise the Prime Minister once and for all by taking on the mask of Missé Moustass? The former CEO categorically denied being the mysterious Internet user. But as part of the investigation into these leaks, on November 1, Sherry Singh was arrested along with three other suspects, according to police sources contacted by AFP.
Ignoring threats and rumors, Mister Moustass, with insolent obstinacy, continues to announce the next episode almost every day. When his Facebook page was deleted on October 19, he immediately appeared on TikTok. Each of his videos has tens or hundreds of thousands of views, despite the severe internet slowdowns that occurred at the same time. “If the internet were faster, there’d probably be twice as many views.”estimates the media Le Mauricien.
Behind his Creole-accented robotic voice, the “Zorro” The Mauritian sometimes reveals a more personal side. As when he mentions that his wife “is angry”. because he doesn’t“doesn’t care about her”too busy on “social networks”. When he learns that the Central Criminal Investigation Department has taken up his case, the mischievous Missié Moustass, clearly enjoying the game he himself has started, is content to respond with the motto ofAnonymousa famous group of hackers advocating civil disobedience: “We are legion, we do not forgive, we do not forget. Expect us.”