protest leader Rodrigue Petitot sentenced to 10 months in prison – Libération

The leader of the movement against the high cost of living in Martinique was found guilty of intimidation against the island's mayors. He was sentenced on Monday December 2 by the Fort-de-France criminal court.

The Martinican leader of the protest movement against the high cost of living, Rodrigue Petitot, was found guilty of intimidation against the island's mayors. He was sentenced on Monday December 2 to 10 months in prison. “We expected to be heard in light of the case law we have on freedom of expression”commented Max Bellemare, one of the protester's three lawyers. Another of his defenders, Georges-Emmanuel Germany, also reacted, describing his client as “political prisoner”. The conviction, however, falls short of the demands of the public prosecutor, who had requested twelve months in prison against the president of the Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC).

When the verdict was pronounced, after a marathon twelve-hour hearing, clashes broke out outside the Fort-de-France courthouse. Among the hundreds of people who came to show 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.

Provisional detention until trial

In a video broadcast live on TikTok at the end of November, 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're going to do a big clean, both inside and out.” he declared while demonstrating, quoted by local radio RCI.

He was subsequently arrested on Thursday November 28 at the end of the day, before being placed in pre-trial detention until his trial. During his indictment, the representative of the prosecution qualified his remarks as“acts of intimidation”. Rodrigue Petitot, for his part, refused to “Never” to have “called for violence against anyone.” Since the beginning of September, the RPPRAC has been calling for the prices of food products sold in Martinique to be aligned with those in France.