Figure of the movement against the high cost of living in Martinique, Rodrigue Petitot, head of the Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC), was arrested Tuesday evening in Fort-de-France, it was reported learned from the prosecution.
Mr. Petitot, known as “the R”, was placed in police custody at the central police station of the capital of the island following a complaint for home invasion and acts of intimidation against people exercise a public function, according to the same source.
Monday evening, Rodrigue Petitot entered the prefectural residence in the upscale Didier district of Fort-de-France with three other people. An intrusion whose aim was to obtain an interview with the Minister of Overseas Territories, François-Noël Buffet, currently visiting Martinique.
It was the prefect of Martinique, Jean Christophe Bouvier, who physically opposed the entry of the president of the RPPRAC into the residence.
The attitude of the collective's leaders was “unacceptable, unimaginable, intolerable”, said Mr. Bouvier.
“We are waiting for the R to be released. I fear this evening a new night of disturbances which will be the responsibility of the prefect and the minister”, for her part reacted Tuesday evening the secretary of the RPPRAC, Aude Goussard, at the microphone of local radio RCI.
After the announcement of Rodrigue Petitot's arrest, around a hundred people gathered in front of the Fort-de-France police station to demand his release, an AFP journalist noted on Tuesday around 8:30 p.m.
According to the Martinique Transport Authority, a flaming roadblock was established on Avenue Maurice Bishop in the Sainte-Thérèse district where Rodrigue Petitot claimed to reside. The authority has suspended public transport in the center of the island.
Arriving Monday evening in Martinique for a four-day visit, Mr. Buffet said he was “ready to meet everyone” on the island, including the leaders of the RPPRAC, who returned to the department on Monday after a ten-day stay. in Paris to organize events there.
Since September, Martinique has been affected by a counter to the high cost of living which has degenerated with urban riots and violence, mainly during nighttime movements for which, according to figures from the prefecture, more than 230 vehicles were deliberately burned and dozens local businesses were set on fire, vandalized or looted.
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