An investigation was opened in Guadeloupe to determine if the use of the baton by a gendarme was "justified" during an arrest Wednesday in Terre-de-Haut, in Saintes, as part of a control for non-wearing of the mask, we learned from a judicial source.
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If it appears at the end of this investigation, opened on Friday, that an offense may have been committed, the prosecutor of Basse-Terre will initiate "legal proceedings" against this gendarme, indicates the vice-prosecutor of the Republic of Basse -Terre, Emmanuel Delorme, in a press release.
"Several blows" to the young man
Two gendarmes proceeded, Wednesday at the end of the morning, to a control of the wearing of the mask in the village of the island, where to circulate masked is obligatory since August 15. At the order to put on a mask, a young man "refused to comply, while making outrageous remarks to them," reported the deputy prosecutor. The gendarmes then wanted to arrest him.
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"The person concerned resisted and uttered insults, thus committing the offenses of rebellion and contempt, without however committing violence on the gendarmes. One of the gendarmes used his telescopic baton and struck the young man several times", continues the deputy prosecutor.
An arrest filmed and broadcast on social networks
Taken in custody, the young man was released the same day, while a demonstration in front of the gendarmerie gates brought together "a hundred people", according to the mayor of Terre-De-Haut, Hilaire Brudey , on local television Canal 10.
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The arrest was filmed and the video shared more than 3,000 times on social networks. The young man lodged a complaint for "willful violence by persons holding public authority with total incapacity for work not exceeding 8 days".