Seven men were referred to the Pointe-à-Pitre prosecutor’s office on Friday, after looting in Lamentin in November against a backdrop of social and health crisis in Guadeloupe, and two of them were sentenced, we learned on Sunday from parquet.
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A total of eight suspects had been taken into custody by midweek – five arrested by law enforcement and three “extracts from their cells“because in the meantime imprisoned for other cases, said Patrick Desjardins, public prosecutor of Pointe-à-Pitre, to AFP.
Seven men,all with lockers“, were finally referred to the prosecution on Friday. Two of them, “rather involved as followers and who recognized the facts“, were sentenced to one year and six months in prison in appearance on prior admission of guilt, then imprisoned immediately, according to the same source.
Five other suspects were due to appear in criminal court on Friday, but the case was adjourned to July 25. Three of them were already incarcerated, one was remanded in custody until trial and the fifth was placed under judicial supervision.
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A small shopping center in the town of Lamentin had been attacked with a backhoe loader on the night of November 20 to 21, 2021, at the very beginning of the demonstrations and urban riots which had occurred in Guadeloupe, in full dispute of the health pass and the obligation vaccine against Covid-19.
During this social crisis, the violence had affected a large part of the archipelago between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, with looting and even the burning of businesses. A customs office in Pointe-à-Pitre had been attacked, as well as gendarmerie barracks, and law enforcement officers had been targeted and shot at. Barriers had also been erected on the roads.
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Several people have been indicted or convicted as part of the investigations into these facts.
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