The carnival festivities in Guadeloupe have been darkened by clashes with the police. During the parades, which took place every weekend between mid-January and February 21, bringing together thousands of revelers and spectators, “19 weapons were seized and 15 officials [de la police] were injured”, detailed the territorial direction of the judicial police. Wounded police officers were targeted by gunfire or stone throwing.
According to Radio Caraïbes International, one of them was dragged several meters by a scooter during the parade in the city of Abymes in early February. The weapons seized were “automatic handguns” of the Glock type, several local media reported. Since 2022, the police and gendarmerie authorities have noted a “strong circulation of quality firearms”, often possessed without a license to carry weapons.
At least nine convictions
On January 19, a few days after the start of the festivities, Patrick Desjardins, public prosecutor of Pointe-à-Pitre, had informed on his Twitter account that “any person arrested in possession of a weapon, whatever it is, on the sidelines of the carnival where checks will be frequent, will be judged in immediate appearance at the end of his police custody, with requisitions of prison”.
Since then, according to a count kept by AFP and confirmed by the Pointe-à-Pitre prosecution, at least 9 convictions to prison terms of up to 18 months have taken place. Four of them were pronounced on Friday. This 2023 edition marked the first real return of the Carnival of Guadeloupe, a highly anticipated event locally, since the Covid-19 pandemic. It had been banned in 2020 and 2021 by the prefectural authority.