Europe 1 with AFP 10:54 a.m., December 04, 2021

More than 70 people have been tried and 64 have been sentenced in Guadeloupe for "violent or illegal actions" since the start of the social crisis that shakes the island. "It was necessary to provide an immediate criminal response to a real insurrectional threat", explained the pointois prosecution which assumes "the choice of zero tolerance".

Since the start of the social protest which degenerated into a crisis in Guadeloupe, more than 70 people have been tried and 64 have been sentenced by courts which are running at full speed, a judicial source said on Friday.

"All participants in violent and illegal actions are tried and there have been almost only convictions," said Patrick Desjardins, public prosecutor of Pointe-à-Pitre, who assumes "the choice of zero tolerance" .

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"It was necessary to provide an immediate criminal response to a real insurrectional threat", explains the prosecutor's office in Pointois, competent in criminal matters, which records "55 immediate appearances since the start of the crisis", resulting in "50 convictions with various penalties "ranging" from community service up to two years in prison through fines ".

148 arrests since the start of the crisis

"This activity in terms of presentations, it was in the space of 11 days the equivalent of what we usually do in 4 months", according to Patrick Desjardins. "67 investigations were opened Wednesday, entrusted to all the investigative services of the department: it goes from the looting of stores, like an armory, to the attack of the gendarmerie and the attempted homicides on the police officers".

In addition to the 50 people sentenced in Pointe-à-Pitre, 14 were sentenced in Basse-Terre, said Xavier Sicot, public prosecutor of Basse-Terre.

"All those who were presented, with the exception of a person whom I directed towards a judicial control, were the subject of sentences to prison terms" for "obstructions, violence against persons in custody of the public authority, theft, looting, insult, or rebellion, "he said.

According to an AFP count, Friday morning, at least 148 arrests had been made in Guadeloupe since the start of the events.

New appearances are expected to take place in the coming days.