The case is not yet concluded but, for many West Indians, its outcome, after sixteen years of proceedings, leaves little room for doubt. The Paris prosecutor’s office issued its final indictment on Thursday, November 24, for the purpose of dismissal, in the criminal case of chlordecone. Used for decades in Guadeloupe and Martinique against the banana weevil, this organochlorine pesticide has poisoned the environment and is suspected of causing many diseases in the population.
The investigations were closed on March 25 by the investigating judges in charge of the case at the health center of the Paris court, to the chagrin of the associations which had filed a complaint in 2006 for “poisoning”, “endangering the life of others”, “administration of harmful substance” and “deception on the risks inherent in the use of goods”.
However, underlines the public prosecutor in the conclusion of her 132-page indictment, consulted by The worldthe facts of poisoning “cannot receive the legal qualification of “poisoning”” and are “in any case covered by the prescription”. Ditto for acts of “endangering the lives of others” which, moreover, “did not constitute a criminal offense before 1is mars 1994 ».
The final dismissal therefore seems very likely to date, and no indictment has been decided. The final decision, which, according to information from the Mondeshould follow this reasoned opinion of the prosecution, is expected by victims’ advocates at the end of December.
However, lawyers have one month to lodge appeals and will not fail to appeal afterwards. “The prosecution considers that the offense of” administration of harmful substance “is not sufficiently characterized and that there is a problem of evidence, it is up to us to see how to provide this evidence”reacts Christophe Lèguevaques, one of the victims’ lawyers. “We are going to continue to fight, let’s not forget that we are dealing with concealed offences, for which the legal starting point is the discovery of the facts: for us, it is the observation, made in 2004 by the management General of competition, consumption and the repression of fraud” problem, he adds.
The state “primarily responsible”
Although long-awaited, this news aroused many indignant reactions in the West Indies. “We continue to sink into a drama”deplores Serge Letchimy, the president of the executive council of the territorial community of Martinique, who filed a civil action in October 2021. “This can be interpreted as a denial of justice”continues this former deputy, who had chaired the parliamentary commission of inquiry set up in 2019 to shed light on this scandal.
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