The man was found guilty of intimidation against the island's mayors. The defense calls him a “political prisoner.”
On Monday, the Fort-de-France criminal court sentenced the leader of the movement against the high cost of living in Martinique, Rodrigue Petitot, to 10 months in prison. He was found guilty of intimidation against the island's mayors. “We are surprised by the decision”commented Me Max Bellemare, one of Rodrigue Petitot's three lawyers, after the verdict was announced. “We expected (to be) heard in light of the case law we have on freedom of expression”he added. It is “a political prisoner”reacted the President of the Bar Georges-Emmanuel Germany, also lawyer of the condemned, the president of the Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC).
When the decision was delivered at the end of a marathon 12-hour hearing, clashes broke out outside the Fort-de-France courthouse, noted an AFP journalist. Among the hundreds of people who showed their support for Rodrigue Petitot, several dozen threw stones and glass bottles at the facades of the court. Projectiles were thrown to which the gendarmes responded with tear gas.
This conviction falls short of the demands of the public prosecutor, who had requested 12 months in prison for the head of the RPPRAC.
“We are going to attack you”
In a video broadcast live at the end of November on TikTok, Rodrigue Petitot demanded the departure of the prefect of Martinique and asked elected officials to close the town halls. “Show us that we can count on you. We're going to attack you. We are going to carry out a major cleaning, from the outside as well as the inside.he declared while demonstrating, quoted by local radio RCI. He was subsequently arrested late Thursday afternoon before being placed in pre-trial detention until his trial.
“These comments are acts of intimidation”asserted the representative of the prosecution on Monday during his indictment, also recalling that the defendant was in a state of legal recidivism and risked up to 20 years of imprisonment for the acts with which he was accused. “We have never called for violence against anyone”defended Rodrigue Petitot during his trial.
Since the beginning of September, the RPPRAC collective has been calling for the prices of food products sold in Martinique to be aligned with those practiced in France. In the wake of this movement, 298 vehicles, 33 private buildings and six public buildings were set on fire and some 174 commercial premises were also burglarized on the island, according to the prefecture.
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