Elie Domota, spokesperson for the collective, is being prosecuted in corrections for “violence against a person in public authority without incapacity for work” committed on December 30, 2021. A trial taking place in a court surrounding a mob of activists and sympathizers.
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Once the trial begins, the president calls the 7 witnesses called by the defense. They are all there.
In advance, the public prosecutor poses a procedural problem with regard to a file thus submitted. Defense lawyers raise invalidity issues. The civil party relies on the wisdom of the court. The chairman adjourns the hearing.
When the hearing resumed, the prosecutor explained that he had sent key documents to the parties the night before, including Elie Domota’s complaint of violence against him by the government on December 30 in Les Abymes. So there is a mirror effect and connection.
For the public prosecutor, the complaint led to the opening of a judicial inquiry under the authority of an investigating judge. So we can’t hold the case today. In addition, the court is not properly seized.
Me Lanthiez, lawyer for the civil parties, for his part, agrees with the prosecutor. The chairman proposes to the defense to adjourn the hearing. delay.
Once the hearing resumed, Me Sarah Aristide was surprised “at the prosecutor’s sudden support for Mr Domota. The Public Prosecution Service is afraid, the Public Prosecution Service is desperate. The file is empty.” I, Aristide, continues:
“Thanks to you, Mr. Prosecutor, we have nothing to deposit, nothing to pay. It is free. We will know how to remember it for future business »
And Me Aristide concludes with the release of his client.
Me Gelabale, defense attorney, in turn dusts off the prosecution, stating:
“The Public Prosecution Service must assume that it has compiled this file from scratch. But the outcome before a careful and competent court is acquittal.”
Me Germany, President of Martinique and defense attorney, requests the court to verbally reject the prosecution’s plea on the grounds that it does not refer to any text. He then raises the plea of nullity on the interpellation. Interpellation that “roused the indignation of the whole world”.
Me Germany also raises the nullity of police detention:
“There is a small 15 minute drop on the magistrate notice and attorney notice schedules. Guardianship should be revoked”
Then it will be Me Lanthiez’s turn before the bourgeois parties, to recall that the December 30 demonstration was not the subject of any prior declaration.
The public prosecutor then requests that the nullity of the arrest be rejected and makes the corresponding minutes of December 30, 2021. This leads to the rejection of the nullity of the pre-trial detention. A new suspension takes place.
When the hearing resumes, the court decides to stay the case and assess the merits. Instead of summarizing the matter, the president, to the amazement of the public, decides to read the exhibits
On December 30, 2021, it was decided to set up a roadblock at the Mandela roundabout in Les Abymes to block protesters from accessing the Milenis shopping center and Pôle Caraïbes airport.
The demonstrators come into contact with the mobile gendarmes, some with barriers. The gendarmes use tear gas and have to deal with a heavy beam of various projectiles. 50 protesters manage to cross the line. They are repelled
Elie Domota managed to pass. He is brought to the ground by a gendarme and then handcuffed. While in police custody, Elie Domota reports that he was sprayed completely with tear gas and discovered that he was being prosecuted for rebellion. Charge not retained.
Hearing of Elie Domota
When questioned by the president, Elie Domota replied in Creole that he had nothing to add. The chairman indicated that these answers in Creole could not be accepted by the registrar. Incident in the room. Anyone who, according to the president, ‘sneaks’ will be expelled from the country.
Asked by me Daninthe in Creole, Elie Domota replied that he did not understand why the police decided to gas them that day, when the relations were correct up to that date.
Elie Domota is redrawing the history of the collective and the negotiations with the state and the large communities and the parliamentarians and regrets that the use of Creole is not allowed in court.
Asked by Me Chevry about the terms of his arrest, Elie Domota said he couldn’t see much after being sprayed with tear gas.
“I only saw shadows. The handcuffs were too tight”
The president requests access to the two videos provided by the defense (broadcast on social networks). The first, which lasts about a minute, shows the arrest of Elie Domota. The second shows the same scene from a different angle.
Hearing witnesses
The first of the seven defense witnesses takes the stand. The man, about sixty years old, underground, acts as secretary of the committee against repression and acts as a character witness.
As for the third witness, he summons Charles Henri Salin, his 21-year-old brother who was murdered by a gendarme in Pointe-à-Pitre in 1985. The latter was later acquitted during a trial in Paris.
For his part, the fourth witness, also a character witness, recalls 5 other cases in which Guadeloupeans were murdered by the police. He cites in particular the case of Claude Jean Pierre, arrested in Deshaies on 21.11.20 by gendarmes. And in fact, the trial of Elie Domota becomes that of the Forces of Order.
Also note that no one was present at the time of the facts forcing Elie Domota to appear in court on Thursday.
The fifth witness mentioned is none other than Raymond Gama. Either he was not present at the facts, but he declares to be upset by what is being alleged against Elie Domota. Historian Raymond Gama returns to him about the events of 1967.
And to highlight the debate, Me Gélabale goes so far as to define Elie Domota as the “National Brown Negro”
At the time of publication of this article, the hearing of witnesses was still in progress. The process may continue for the next few days.
At the same time, Elie Domota’s supporters continue to be mobilized outside the court of Pointe-à-Pître.
