This update covers developments relating to the freedom of expression in the Seychelles from 1st November 2024 to 1st July 2025.
GENERAL
Africa Freedom Prize to President of Seychelles
On 6th November 2024, the 2024 Africa Freedom Prize of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom was awarded to President Wavel Ramkalawan. This prize recognises leaders who have significantly advanced human rights, democracy, and good governance. Wavel Ramkalawan won the 2020 presidential election, marking the first opposition victory since the country’s independence from Britain more than four decades ago.
All scores up in Democracy Index
The 2025 Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) report issued in March 2025 lists Seychelles as one of the two liberal democracies in sub-Saharan Africa (with South Africa). It also notes that Seychelles improved “substantially and significantly” regarding the following indicators: rigorous and impartial administration, high court independence, freedom from political killings, and executive oversight.
EXPRESSION
While observers note that Seychelles has “made strides in building an independent media” in recent years, worrying events are unfolding ahead of the September 2025 elections.
Closure of government funded Seychelles News Agency
On 19th December 2024, following a joint decision by the Seychelles Government and the National Information Services Agency, the Seychelles News Agency ceased its daily news operations. The Seychelles News Agency was funded by the government. As of 1st January 2025, the website www.seychellesnewsagency.com will no longer be operational. The government decided to merge the activities of the Seychelles News Agency with those of the National Information Services Agency, which publishes the Seychelles Nation newspaper. According to the Seychelles News Agency, the government has not publicly explained the reasons behind its decision to withdraw funding from the news agency and close it down.
The Association of Media Practitioners in Seychelles expressed its concern about the closure, stressing that it further reduces the already limited media landscape in the Seychelles, and especially free access to information in English and French.
Dismissal and expulsion of journalist without explanation
On 22nd April 2025, Vel Moonien, a Mauritian citizen and editor-in-chief of the newspaper Today in Seychelles, who was the correspondent for the Reunionese newspaper Le Quotidien, was dismissed from his position as head of the media outlet. On 26th April 2025, he was expelled from the archipelago, according to Reporters Without Borders. His employer, Le Quotidien de La Réunion, contacted the government spokesperson for an explanation regarding the sudden departure of its correspondent. According to the government’s spokesperson, it is ‘a matter between employer and employee.’
According to the Head of the Sub-Saharan Africa Office at Reporters Without Borders, this expulsion reflects declining press freedom on the island, as relations between Ramkalawan’s government and the media have been worsening.
ASSEMBLY
Protest against hotel project on fragile island
The Seychelles Islands Foundation manages and protects the uninhabited Aldabra Atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage site located over 1000km southwest of the main island of Mahé. The Seychelles Islands Foundation is contesting a proposal for the construction of a luxury facility on Assumption Island, comprising large villas and four restaurants.
On 9th November 2024, demonstrators marched peacefully through the streets of Victoria to protest against the proposed Assumption Island hotel project. The group, led by Seychelles Independent Newspaper editor Ralph Volcere, demands “to halt the project until all relevant information is disclosed to the public in an independent Environmental Impact Assessment”.