Lawyers for Avinash Treebhoowoon, one of two men accused of murdering Michaela Harte in Mauritius last month, have lodged a motion in court seeking the recuse of the presiding magistrate from hearing his upcoming bail application.
According to documents lodged at Mapou District court, Mr Treebhoowoon, a room attendant at the luxury hotel in which Ms Harte was honeymooning, has "serious apprehension" he will not get a fair hearing before Magistrate Ms Bonomally.
"He honestly believes that each time he was brought before the court…he was not allowed by Your Honour to make a full complaint about the torture and ill-treatment he has been subjected to" by officers investigating Ms Harte's murder, the motion reads.
While the court accepted the lodgement of the motion today the hearing was unable to proceed because the court's digital recorder was broken. It will be heard on Friday instead.
Mr Treebhoowoon freely gave a statement in which he described how he and fellow murder accused Sandip Moneea killed Ms Harte after she walked in on them trying to rob her suite at the Legend's Hotel, police have said.
But Mr Treebhoowoon has since claimed he was coerced into making his admission of guilt by police who beat and tortured him during interrogation.
Ms Harte, the daughter of Tyrone senior football manager Mickey Harte, was found strangled in her hotel room on January 10th at the exclusive hotel in Grand Gaube, a fishing village in the north of the island. She was on honeymoon with her husband John McAreavey when she died.
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