“I am not more surprised than that” because the state “let the gangs thrive”, reacts the socialist senator of Guadeloupe and former Minister of Overseas from 2012 to 2014 Victorin Lurel, Saturday January 22 on franceinfo, while eight people, including a police officer, are indicted in particular for association of criminals, for having “organized” and “planned” the violence during the mobilization against the vaccination obligation in Guadeloupe in order to enrich themselves personally. They are suspected of having asked companies for money so that the rioters do not attack them.
>> “We are on treason”: what we know about the indictment of a police officer suspected of having “planned” violence in Guadeloupe
Franceinfo: The public prosecutor of Pointe-à-Pitre affirms that the social mobilization was an “opportunity” to enrich themselves for the suspects. What’s your reaction ?
Victorin Lurel: I’m not really surprised. In 2009, there had already been roughly similar acts. We had the famous case of the Valkanaers Gourbeyre service station, because the State at the time had estimated that the limit of bearable disorder – that’s how we say in law enforcement – was not reached and therefore it was necessary to calm things down for public tranquility. Since that time, gangs have been allowed to prosper. Today, it does not surprise me that thanks to the slightest social movement, and in particular a crisis like this, some people take advantage of this opportunity to prosper. I’m no more surprised than that.
At the local level, what do elected officials do?
Unfortunately, there is a lot of laxity and complacency. There are still too many elected officials in Guadeloupe who are complacent with this type of thing, in the name of a certain youth. Yes, there are young people who are idle, who have problems, who need to be reintegrated, etc., we have to take care of them. But there is obviously some trafficking going on. With the best feeling in the world, I believe that the state in all its components, including the judicial component, has not done the job. Today, the State has decided to do this work and to bring to light what has already been done for some time.
️ “Planned” violence by mafia gangs in Guadeloupe: “There are too many complacent elected officials” denounces PS Senator Victorien Lurel pic.twitter.com/DPGFWWX6ZU
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) January 22, 2022
Do you think that elected officials have an interest in this traffic?
I’m not talking about self-interest, I’m talking about convenience. It’s up to the courts to shed light on all of this. But it’s true that we see here and there grants to associations that distribute or redistribute public money. Me, I refused that in 2009 when I was asked a certain number of things. Other elected officials had asked me to finance things after the social movement of 2009, I felt that it was not clear and I had refused.
“There is another form of pressure. There is a terror which is exerted, the elected officials are afraid to speak.”
Victorin Lurel, PS senator of Guadeloupeat franceinfo
What I am doing in answering you, there are not many elected officials who will be able to do it because we are afraid for our property, for our family, for our person, because the gaze of the other, etc. Here, you are in a close society. Everyone knows everyone, so we are a little afraid, we hesitate to say things. In terms of justice, every three or four years you have to rotate certain officials.
How do you expect us to have robbed the customs offices? There are probably internal complicities in this case. How could we have left Pointe-à-Pitre unprotected the day before the riots and fires? How could we let an armory be robbed? It deserves a commission of inquiry. How could we let this happen? I know very well that maintaining order is very complicated, I’m not going to sue just to sue. I say that the State has become aware of this case and has now decided to deal with the case.
“Justice must do its job. The elected [complices]the gangs, the gangsters, they have to be judged.”
Victorin Lurel, PS senator of Guadeloupeat franceinfo
The PS is the only party to have asked that the sponsors of what happened recently, in particular at the CHU, be arrested and tried.
What do you think the state and Emmanuel Macron should do today?
I ask the President of the Republic, who will receive us at the end of January by videoconference, to establish a dialogue. Playing the empty chair policy never solved anything. There is a social crisis, it must be resolved. The state has begun to provide solutions. The local elected officials met and made proposals, it is necessary to seize it and that justice on its side does its work. The difficulty is to maintain it over time and I admit that it is quite complicated. It can “burn-out” police and gendarmes.