Martinique begins trial of social protests' leader Petitot

By Layli Foroudi

FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique (Reuters) - A protestation person successful Martinique went connected proceedings connected Tuesday accused of trespassing connected authorities spot during cost-of-living demonstrations successful a lawsuit his supporters accidental is different heavy-handed effort to halt dissent successful France's overseas territories.

Rodrigue Petitot, 42, known arsenic “Le R”, led past year's societal question connected the Caribbean island, wherever nutrient is acold much costly and poorness levels treble those of mainland France.

"The question was gaining strength, and they needed to halt it," a co-accused activist, Gwladys Roger, told Reuters, saying governmental repression via courts had been utilized since the 1960s.

"When you privation to termination a dog, you accidental it is rabid."

Petitot and 3 others are accused of intruding connected the Martinique governor's residence during a Nov. 11 gathering with France's Overseas Territories Minister.

The activists, from the "Gathering for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean People and Resources" (RPPRAC), accidental they wanted to conscionable the curate and that a constabulary serviceman fto them in, tribunal documents show. Red-shirted supporters gathered extracurricular the tribunal for Petitot's two-day hearing.

The Prefecture of Martinique and the overseas territories ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Martinique legislator Jiovanny William, who was astatine the Nov. 11 meeting, told Reuters helium shared the activists' extremity but not their method of trying to summation entry. “They wanted to unit things but I regret that they didn’t enactment with parliamentarians,” helium said.

One of Petitot’s lawyers, Eddy Arneton told Reuters helium faced up to 20 years' jailhouse if convicted owed to his anterior record.

“Mr Petitot was exercising his state of look successful that helium wanted to pull the attraction of the nationalist and the authorities to the concern successful Martinique and the intent of this process is to repress a societal movement,” helium said.

'NEOCOLONIAL' REPRESSION?

Petitot was besides sentenced to 10 months' situation successful December for unit and intimidation implicit a TikTok video, successful which helium says they would “attack” mayors who bash not instrumentality a basal against the politician Jean-Christophe Bouvier.

Petitot, who had that condemnation changed to location confinement, says helium did not mean physically attack.

The Martinique unrest was 1 of respective caller flashpoints successful French territories. An effort to trim the voting value of indigenous Kanak radical brought unrest successful the Pacific water archipelago New Caledonia portion a cyclone devastated Mayotte disconnected East Africa, sidesplitting 39 and leaving thousands homeless.

Martinique was colonized by France successful 1635 and, alongside Guadeloupe, French Guiana and La Reunion, made into a “department” by a 1946 instrumentality promising equality for territories.

However, the poorness level successful Martinique is 27%, compared to 14% connected mainland France, portion nutrient products were 40% higher successful terms successful 2023, according to authoritative French data.

Descendants of enslaved plantation owners, known arsenic “bekes”, predominate the system and hike margins, “which accentuates tensions,” said Sandrine Lemaire, a historiographer and writer connected French colonialism.

She said determination was "neocolonial" repression of societal movements successful France’s overseas territories, citing the transportation of 7 arrested Kanak leaders to a mainland situation 10,000 miles away.

Martinique was enactment nether curfew from Oct. 10 to Nov. 4 past twelvemonth owed to the unrest, which turned convulsive with much than a 100 businesses targeted and burnt.

(This communicative has been corrected to accidental 7 Kanak leaders, not five, successful paragraph 17)