Rodrigue Petitot, the leader of the RPPRAC, sentenced to 10 months of flexible imprisonment

Rodrigue Petitot remains in prison. The decision of the Fort-de-France judicial court was rendered this Monday evening (December 2). The president of the RPPRAC is sentenced to a 10-month flexible prison sentence.

He was found guilty of the charges. He is placed in detention for 5 days.

Rodrigue Petitot has 10 days to appeal the judgment.

We are surprised by the decision. We expected that we would be heard, that we would be followed, especially in view of the case law that we have cited on freedom and freedom of expression. Unfortunately, the court decided otherwise. They decided to modify the sentence ab initio, that is to say, the court itself decides on the modification of the sentence. He will be summoned in five days at most before a sentencing judge and placed under bracelet with possibly release times. We did not expect this decision. There is a good chance that we will appeal.

Maître Bellemare, lawyer for Rodrigue Petitot

interviewed by Kelly Babo

He was tried in immediate appearance for acts of “threats against a person holding a mandate”. The figure of the movement against the high cost of living was accused of having made remarks described as “threatening” towards elected officials, particularly mayors, in a video published on social networks.

During the hearing, the defendant's three lawyers, who denounced a “relentlessness” against their client, pleaded for acquittal.

This afternoon, the second part of the hearing was devoted to the merits of the case and the viewing of videos with interpreters present to translate the passages into Creole.

Rodrigue Petitot spoke again at the bar. He notably emphasized that he was speaking “political and non-physical attacks”. According to him, the video was taken out of context.

The defendant indicates that he was asking, as a sign of support, that elected officials close town halls and rally to the cause following the remarks made by the prefect of Martinique in the program Politik Péyi on Martinique La 1ère.

The public prosecutor asserts that this procedure is not “an attack on freedom of expression, opinion or democracy”.

When I hear that justice is being exploited, the content of the procedure is obscured. (…) I do not see this procedure as a means of exerting any pressure. (…) No one here at the Prosecutor’s Office makes it a personal matter. (…) There is no positioning on the content of Petitot's remarks within the framework of the movement, but on the remarks within the framework of the video. With his words, the question is whether he violated the terms of the law. Nothing other than that.

The Public Prosecutor

During the hearing, the Prosecutor's Office declared thatGiven his status as a public figure, the responsibility for Rodrigue Petitot's comments carries significant weight. The magistrate also added that his comments are “acts of intimidation” which constitute an offense.

Hundreds of people gathered in front of the court.