'File 35/85 III A 10 French Flag Question' [‎50r] (110/610)

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APPENDIX 6.
Document E elatinq to the C ase op S alim- Bin-S eif.
No. 1.
Sir J. Hardinge to the Marquess of Salisbury.
(Extract.) Zanzihar^une ITthy 1898.
I have the honour to transmit herewith correspondence respecting the case
of Salim-bin-Seif, a Pemba slave-trader, who after long baffling the vigilance of
the authorities, has at last been caught in the act of shipping slaves from that
island by Captain Goldie-Taubman's police, whom the French consulate claims
to protect. This Salim is the man referred to in my despatch No. 166 of the 6th
instant. I should explain that the main correspondence was carried on by the
French Consul with the Brigadier-General Raikes, and that it was only on fail
ing to obtain satisfaction from the latter that he applied to me. Since my note
to him of the 10th instant he has not again addressed me on the subject.
Your Lordship will be able to judge from the inclosed papers of the vali
dity of grounds on which Mr. Laronce tries to show that Salim-bin-Seif was
entitled to exterritorial immunities as a "Prench-protected person." It is suffi
cient to say that in previous cases of a similar nature, such as those of Sheikh
Abdullah, of Patta, Abdullah-bin-Selam, and others, these reasons have been
dismissed by your Lordship as insufficient, and the claimant summarily dealt
with as local subjects. The present case has, however, excited considerable
interest among the Pemba Arabs, and our success in stamping out the export
Slave Trade from Pemba will be greatly affected by its solution.
No reply having been received up to date from M. Laronce, the Court,
? 0 composed of General Raikes and the Arab Cadi, Sheikh Burhan-bin-Abdul
Aziz, pronounced judgment on the prisoner this morning. An English trans
lation of this judgment is enclosed herewith.
I have told General Raikes to send a copy of the judgment to M. Laronce,
and to inform him at the same time that the French flags and papers found on
the convict's dhows will be duly returned to the French Consulate.
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Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
M. Laronce to Sir A. Eardinge.
M. 1'Agent et Consul-General, Zanzibar, le 8 Juin 1898.
Par une lettre en date d'hier, M. le Brigadier-General Raikes, Premier
Ministre par interim de Sa Hautesse, m'informait qu'un Sieur Selim avait ete
amene de Pemba le meme jour a Zanzibar sous escorte pour un fait de Traite.
re9u
Le General Raikes ajoutait qu'il me remettrait cet individu lorsqu'il aurait
de moi Tassurance que le prisonnier etait bien protege Fran9ais.
Je repondis aussitdt au General que Selim-bin-Seif etait proprietaire de
deux boutres battant pavilion Fran9ais le 4e Majunga," et le " Selama," qu'il
etait inscrit sur les registres de ce Consulat, et qu'en consequence il voulut bien
m'en faire la remise.
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