Azie’s release on bail came when no one was really expecting it. After fourteen months in prison and a number of occasions when his release was expected and then postponed, he must have been surprised himself. The more so, since the police did not come up with new evidence in Court; they just didn’t object to the motion. This does not mean however that Marcelin Azie has been declared innocent: the provisional charge against him has just been modified from “murder” to “manslaughter”, that is an act committed without premeditation.

Immediately after his release – on payment of Rs 30,000 as bail and Rs 50,000 as promissory note – Azie looked quite overawed by the crowd waiting outside. He came out of the courtroom quietly and lost in his thoughts. It was only a few minutes later that, in an improvised press declaration, he claimed once more that he was innocent. “The truth has finally triumphed,” he said.

<B>On the football ground</B>

Although his release is only temporary pending the trial, Azie was acclaimed as a hero. Outside, his relatives gave free rein to their joy. But it took him a few hours to really come to grips with these latest developments.

Azie has his own version of what happened, which is different from the police version but also different from his first statement. When he was arrested by the police for Nadine Dantier’s rape and murder, he gave a statement in which he confessed to the crime and described it in precise detail. Furthermore, he mentioned Nadine’s mobile and ring. Even though he retracted a few days later, the police still believed he had something to do with the horrible attack. The police did not have evidence against him but thought he had to stay in detention as he had confessed to the crime. What has changed then between Azie’s last appearance in Court and this one? Why have the police suddenly decided to free him?

He never stopped claiming he had not committed the crime but, when he was freed last Friday, he gave a version he had never given before. “The police beat me and made me confess to this attack. Everything I said I in my statement was lies.” He said he had signed a paper the police gave him but had never admitted to committing the crime. Why didn’t his lawyer mention these “details” before?

According to Azie, he was on the football ground with friends when he was supposed to have been on the scene of the murder. Such declarations cannot be difficult to check with the people supposedly present on the football ground on the fateful day. Did the police try to talk to these people?

Doubt still hangs over this murder, as most questions remain unanswered. As for the Dantier family, they only wish for the investigation to progress quickly so that Nadine’s murderer(s) is/are found and punished. “The guilty must be punished,” Caroline, Nadine’s mother, insisted after Marcellin Azie’s release.

Marcellin Azie even said that he is convinced that the guilty person(s) will be found very soon. He added, “If ever the police find the person who committed the crime, I will be there to support the Dantier family.”

The DNA results have still not been received from South Africa. Although such tests are not 100% reliable, they nevertheless constitute the main hope of shedding light on this tragic case.