Five people have been placed in pre-trial detention after their indictment for their alleged involvement in the so-called "Big Brothers" affair in Guadeloupe, Fort-de-France prosecutor Clarisse Taron said in a statement on Friday.

Arrested on Tuesday, they were presented in court on Friday at the end of their police custody.

These suspects - of whom no details are specified - were indicted for "participation in a criminal association with a view to committing armed mobs, destruction by fire and extortion in an organized gang", detailed the prosecutor, specifying suspects could face up to ten years in prison.

Urban riots linked to the vaccination pass

Guadeloupe was shaken by "extremely violent events" in November 2021, its press release recalled.

A protest movement crystallized around the pressure to be vaccinated against Covid-19 has degenerated into urban riots, with roadblocks, looting or even fires.

The security forces had come under fire.

The investigation carried out by the judicial police of Guadeloupe, "under the aegis of the Pointe-à-Pitre prosecution, established that these riots were in fact knowingly organized", assured Clarisse Taron, advancing that "the goal of the organizers" was to "obtain money through the payment of subsidies by public authorities or funds by private groups".

The five people placed in pre-trial detention on Friday are suspected of having "participated in preparatory meetings" for these events.

Eight men, including a policeman, have already been arrested in January and seven of them were subsequently remanded in custody.

They are suspected of having organized these riots.

"The investigations are continuing," said Clarisse Taron.

The “Big Brothers” – nickname linked to their action with young people – benefit from numerous supports in Guadeloupe, sometimes from local political leaders such as the newly re-elected MP Olivier Serva who had expressed in January his solidarity with these “necessary mediators in the social crisis in Guadeloupe”.

This Guadeloupe detainee will stay in mainland France, the Council of State has decided

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Violence in Guadeloupe: Two detainees transferred to France

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  • Urban violence

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