Madagascan crowd attacks Ambilobe police station

Text by: RFI Follow

In Madagascar, hundreds of residents attacked the police station in the city of Ambilobe, in the far north of the country. Since Sunday, February 16, an angry crowd has demanded that the police hand them over a man suspected of having killed a pregnant woman.

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The people wanted to punish and kill the alleged criminal. About twenty people, authors of degradations and blockades of the roads, were arrested Sunday then released, with an aim of appeasement and after discussions between the population and the authorities. A protester and a police officer were injured, said the gendarmerie. Calm returned Sunday evening.

According to witnesses, more than 500 people attacked the police station. A police officer was also briefly kidnapped by the residents and then released by the gendarmes. Four other police officers found themselves trapped inside the police station, unable to leave in front of a furious crowd, indicates a source within the gendarmerie. Stone throwing, burnt tires and a burnt out car ... Calm returned around 2 am but the inhabitants resumed their demonstrations in the morning, blocking the roads.

Law enforcement officers from nearby large cities, Diego Suarez and Ambanja, had to go in for reinforcement, but it was ultimately a government mission, dispatched urgently, which put an end to the very tense situation.

The Minister of Public Security and the Secretary of State in charge of the Gendarmerie, with the local authorities, took part in a public meeting with the population.

“ We were greeted by a large crowd. They still demanded retribution by saying that the man was an assassin, but they were explained that this is not the solution and that one can only kill in self-defense, "said General Richard Ravalomanana, Secretary of State in charge of the Gendarmerie.

► Read also: "Madagascar: the Prime Minister promises prosecution in the event of popular reprisal"

Popular vindictions are common in the country, in particular because the population does not trust the justice system and the police, which have repeatedly shown their capacity to allow themselves to be corrupted.

This laxity, as well of the police as of the judicial staff, means that some Madagascans have decided to take justice into their own hands. Unfortunately, over the past ten years, it has become recurrent in Madagascar, whereas before, it was a fairly rare phenomenon.

Ketakandriana Rafitoson

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