A 4th night of clashes and violence in Martinique: 10 police officers and 1 gendarme injured – All Martinique news on the Internet – FranceAntilles.fr Martinique

These shots are “totally unacceptable”, said government spokesman Gabriel Attal on BFMTV, advocating “obviously (a) absolute firmness in the face of these situations”.

Police officers were also targeted on Friday at a roadblock in Fort-de-France and one of them was injured in the arm by lead shot, according to a police source. Another police officer, a member of an intervention company, received a bullet which lodged in his bulletproof vest, according to the same source. The Raid is currently intervening on this roadblock, according to the police.

Ten police officers were reportedly injured during the night, including a Raid officer, according to the latest report. A police officer was seriously injured in the neck – Samu was still with him this morning at the police station – after receiving a coil on the service vehicle.

A gendarme was also seriously injured in Ducos, in a road accident. He would suffer from multiple fractures and was evacuated to the Martinique University Hospital. His vital prognosis would not be engaged. “During the night, a police officer who was working with his colleagues on a burglary was violently hit by the looters’ vehicle. He is seriously injured and is operated on today, ”confirms Clarisse Taron, the public prosecutor, in a press release this Friday morning.

In various places, in Schoelcher, Case-Pilote or Saint-Pierre, the gendarmes dislodged roadblocks, while wiping fire from firearms. In Schoelcher, at the Ozanam roundabout, the gendarmes were subjected to live ammunition and projectile throws. They responded with flash ball fire and tear gas canisters.

In Sainte-Thérèse, the clashes were again very violent. The night was again punctuated with looting of businesses, especially in Fort-de-France: Auchan Dillon, literally robbed, Burger King, a Carrefour Express and an Eco Max.

10 arrests

Gérard Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, who reacts this morning on Twitter, announces 10 arrests during the night, in Martinique and Guadeloupe.

In Guadeloupe and Martinique, our security forces and journalists have been the target of attacks and shootings. Several policemen and gendarmes were injured. I give them my full support
Everything is done to find those responsible. 10 arrests last night

– Gerald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) November 26, 2021

“The first investigations opened following the events of the night of November 23 to 24 resulted today (Friday November 26) in the presentation of three individuals to the Fort-de-France prosecutor’s office. They will be tried in immediate appearance for carrying category B weapons, damage by fires, violence with weapons on persons holding public authority and their placement in detention will be required ”, specifies the public prosecutor this morning. And to add that “these appearances will be deferred or not depending on the state of progress of the procedures. The other investigations are continuing under the direction of the magistrates ”.

Guadeloupe and Martinique, 120 km from each other, are experiencing a major protest movement, born from the refusal of the vaccination obligation for caregivers and firefighters, which degenerated into a social crisis, revealing expectations of a population where many live below the poverty line and where youth unemployment is exploding.

Martinique is the French overseas region least affected by unemployment. In 2020, however, the unemployment rate stood at 12.4%, or 4.4 points more than in mainland France, due to a narrow labor market and a local lack of skills.

The median standard of living of the population is 17% lower than the national level, the poverty rate (29.8%) almost twice as high.

This social movement is accompanied by nocturnal urban violence which pushed thehe prefect of Martinique to establish a curfew from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. on Thursday, while the prefect of Guadeloupe extended the one already in progress on the island.

– Break the deadlock –

The authorities have started discussions with unions and elected officials to try to break the deadlock.

The government has indicated that it is considering an “individual solution” for the nursing staff and firefighters of Guadeloupe to be suspended because reluctant to compulsory vaccination, according to the Ministry of Overseas.

At the end of a videoconference meeting with the Minister of Overseas Overseas Sébastien Lecornu, the president of the association of mayors of Guadeloupe Jocelyn Sapotille argued that the suspension of the vaccination obligation “refused at the start” was “studied ” by the government.

“We are not asking to repeal the law, it applies, but we are asking for a parenthesis to resolve the situation of 1,200 to 1,300 Guadeloupeans who will find themselves without income”, because suspended, he added.

But a spokesperson for the cabinet of the Ministry of Overseas Territories told AFP that “the vaccination obligation for caregivers and firefighters will not be lifted”.

“It is legitimate that an individual solution can be offered to each staff to be suspended”, however, added the ministry, which will hold a similar meeting on Friday at 3:00 p.m. with the president of the regional council, the president of the departmental council and the parliamentarians of the territory. from Guadeloupe.

Elected officials also ask for Sébastien Lecornu to come on site “within a fairly short period of time” and the opening of a debate on a possible change in the status of Guadeloupe.

According to the ministry, Sébastien Lecornu will go “soon on the spot”, but such a trip “must not be organized under pressure and must be part of specific and shared commitments”.

In Martinique too, local and national authorities have opened the door to dialogue with unions and elected officials.

The leaders of the 17 trade unions, the prefect and the president of the executive council of the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique, Serge Letchimy, thus participated Thursday in a conciliation meeting at the prefecture.

But “the discussions did not provide any convincing evidence to reassure the intentions of the state on the main claims: vaccine obligation and health pass,” they said in a statement Friday.