ABSTRACT
René's prompt isolation of Mancham and his ministers and the quick evolution of a new security structure proved prudent as opposition to him changed shape after 1979. The regime's seeming panic after the Denard coup in Comoros was to be overshadowed by a more planned and comprehensive mass arrest in November the following year. The 1979 arrests saw seventy people detained including some arrested and released the previous year. René had the previous year abolished the Seychelles football club system as part of a process of taking control of sports administration and coordinating it with the new National Youth Service. In the absence of legal opposition political parties, Rovers FC had earlier taken on a political character. Members as players or officials included many later detainees and anti-René activists. The arrests struck at Seychelles infrastructure. The Rovers FC member Patrick Barallon was, at the time of his arrest, deputy manager of Barclays Bank.
