Eight people found guilty of murder were sentenced to hard labor for life after the hearing held this Friday, November 18 at the Criminal Court of Ambatolampy, a town located 70 km south of the capital. .
With our correspondent in Antananarivo,
In Madagascar, exemplary sentences were handed down during the environmental activist murder trial Henri Rakotoarisoa, assassinated on June 1. In addition to the eight people sentenced to forced labor for life, two other defendants were sentenced to three years in prison for failure to assist a person in danger. The other 23 were acquitted.
Henri Rakotoarisoa, 70 years olddenounced for two years the illegal cutting of timber by traffickers in a primary forest near Moramanga, in the east of the island. In the small courtroom essentially crowded with the families of the 33 defendants, the debates, which lasted nearly 5 hours, made it possible to establish what happened on June 2.
“They were basically farmers who felt their interests were being disturbed and that was the reason for the murder. One person got carried away and the others followed. In this dynamic, the crowd got carried away against (Henri Rakotoarisoa)”, says Me Tita Raharijaona, civil party lawyer and representative of several environmental protection associations.
According to him, ” someone called the gentleman to trick him into telling him “come here, from such side of the neighborhood'” and that’s when they rushed at him, without really knowing why or how. I hope people will understand that they do not have the right to take justice into their own hands, especially for environmental issues “.
” The Malagasy won today »
The deceased’s wife and sons said to each other, almost satisfied” of these convictions, says their lawyer Me Mamy Raharimanantsoa. But they regret the acquittal for the benefit of the doubt of one of the defendants, she said. The Court also ordered 40 million ariary, or nearly 9,000 euros in damages in favor of the family of Henri Rakotoarisoa.
For Ndranto Razakamanarina, president of the Voahary Gasy alliance, a platform that brings together organizations for the defense of the environment, this judgment is a victory. ” This is perhaps the first time in Madagascar that we manage to condemn criminals in an appropriate way. For the family of the deceased and for all environmental activists in Madagascar, this is a first and it really encourages us,” he rejoices.
We were able to thwart the misdeeds of the corrupters. The Malagasy won today. I hope it will set a precedent for the application of sentences for environmental justice in Madagascar. But we will continue the investigations to the sponsor if possible. We are almost sure that there are people behind (this murder, editor’s note).
A murder that recalls the urgency of adopting the law on the protection of human rights defenders and whistleblowers in the country, insists civil society.