According to the public prosecutor, some violence, which would have been perpetrated with the “active involvement” of a police officer, had villainous aims
The violence that has been shaking Guadeloupe for nearly three months and which currently seems to be on the rise, against the background of contestation of the vaccination obligation, was “perfectly planned and organized”, with in particular “the active involvement” of a civil servant police, accused the public prosecutor on Friday.
A judicial inquiry was opened, entrusted to two investigating judges, and eight people, arrested on Monday, were indicted after 96 hours in police custody. Four were remanded in custody.
“No scene of violence” including the most recent “was spontaneous,” insisted prosecutor Patrick Desjardins. “In the surveillance that was put in place”, following the first riots in November, “we understood that it was a question of a sharing of roles”, in particular of the gangs of Baie-Mahault, Pointe-à-Pitre and Grand-Camp (at Abymes, editor’s note).
After a night of riots, at the end of November, punctuated by shootings against the police and where the SPIP (prison service for integration and probation) was set on fire, “the investigations intensified”, held “in the greatest secrecy”. Because appeared, “the complicity, even the implication of a police officer”, placed from now on under warrant of deposit.
“We are on treason,” said the prosecutor. “We know that he was at the origin of many operations, that against the SPIP but also that which was planned for December 30 last”.
That day, the demonstration against the vaccination obligation was to arrive at the airport, “with a determined modus operandi between demonstrators and gang members, who were to occupy the runways with stolen vehicles” and ignited. Clashes took place between the demonstrators and the police. The union leader Elie Domota had been arrested, then released in the evening.
If the “ideological battle” and the obligation to vaccinate as well as the question of youth remain in the background, “what is certain is a clear desire for enrichment”.
Private blackmail and siphoning of public subsidies
According to the investigation, the aim was to obtain “substantial sums from large groups against the promise not to launch the rioters against their interests”. Hence the absence of attacks on the major shopping centers on the island.
On the other hand, said Mr. Desjardins, the goal was to “benefit from subsidies through associations created during future negotiations with the State, but also thanks to troubled relations with local elected officials”, via, “significant pressures”.
Eight people were indicted on the charge of “criminal association to commit crimes and misdemeanors in an organized gang”.
Deputy Olivier Sevra calls for “impartial justice that does not neglect their role in this process of appeasement”. Throughout the day, in front of the court, a hundred people, including trade union leaders, were present “in support” of the persons referred.