An explosion of joy echoed around the Fort-de-France judicial court on Friday, November 15, shortly after 7:00 p.m. “Oh! Wow! Wow! » (“Red! Red! Red!”, in Creole), sings a crowd of a thousand people, to the sound of drums and conch shells, instruments inseparable from the demonstrations in Martinique.
At the end of a five-hour hearing of immediate appearance before the criminal court, Rodrigue Petitot, leader of the collective against the high cost of living, arrested on Tuesday, was released under judicial supervision. The president of the Demonstration for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC), the group that began a series of demonstrations in early September to demand a reduction in the prices of food products in supermarkets, was released the day before after forty-eight hours in police custody.
Standing on the surrounding wall of the building as if on a pedestal, surrounded by his three lawyers, the activist savors his triumph and harangues his supporters, dressed in red as a sign of demonstration. “We won this fight and we will win again”he roars, in Creole, to applause.
“Ministerial Comfort Custody”
This judicial decision will undoubtedly alleviate, at least temporarily, the tensions that have been increasing since Mr. Petitot’s arrest. New riots broke out in Fort-de-France on Tuesday afternoon, after two weeks of calm. During these clashes, three gendarmes were slightly injured and six stores were looted in the island’s capital, hard hit by several nights of violence in September and October.
But the case in which Petitot appeared has not yet been tried: the president of the court postponed the trial until January 21, 2025, granting a request presented by the activist at the beginning of the hearing. “Since leaving prison in 2019, I have remained steadfast”he said on the stand, with his right hand in a splint – the result of an injury he suffered in early October, while trying to escape from the CRS during a demonstration – and his left arm in a sling, the result of his musculature. arrest, in front of his house, in Fort-de-France.
Justice accuses him, among other things, of having broken into the prefectural residence on Monday night. “by forcing entry with a vehicle”stressed Thomas Lamorelle, president of the court, but also having “violence committed voluntarily” against a person holding public authority, “used to threaten”acts of intimidation and outrages committed against the person of Jean-Christophe Bouvier, prefect of Martinique.
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