Seychelles

"“[The] Advocacy for Alleged Witches is asking the government of Seychelles to drop [the] charges [of Satanism and witchcraft against oppositional leader Patrick Herminie, five other Seychellois and a Tanzanian] because they are absurd and constitute a show of shame and embarrassment. The prosecution of Herminie and other co-accused is witch hunting in both literal and political sense[s]. And witch hunting should have no place in 21st century politics in Seychelles. Otherwise, how does the government define witchcraft or witchcraft items? How does the government distinguish witchcraft items, whatever that means, from traditional religious objects? How did the prosecutors know that the said items were intended for use in witchcraft? Are stones, black wooden artifacts, and small bottles of brownish liquid witchcraft materials? I mean how will [the] state prosecutors establish that some symbols are demonic and satanic? At a time of growing cases of witch persecution in many parts of Africa, the government of Seychelles should discontinue this unfortunate and unwarranted instance of witch hunting.”"