On the night of 24-25 March a Haitian (M.N. 46) went to the prefecture of Saint-Martin where he caused material damage before removing the French flag he threw in the trash and then replace it with the Haitian flag.

On Thursday, 15 June, he was convicted of a deliberate degradation of public property and insult to the French flag, and sentenced to one month's imprisonment with a suspended sentence, a citizenship course and 300 euros of fine for non respect of the French flag.

For his defense, the accused admitted that he was drunk that night, claiming that he was mad against the prefecture for his difficulties in obtaining a residence permit. It should be remembered that in 1995 M.N. had obtained a 10-year residence permit in Guadeloupe. 1 year before expiry, while in Saint-Martin, he was unable to renew his permit and was deported because he was unable to provide his Haitian passport because of the slowness of the administration in Haiti, back thereafter to Saint Martin under subsidiary protection, he complained since 2008 that he still does not have his residence permit, but only temporary receipts whereas the French administration, according to him, confirms that his file is complete...

IH/ iciHaiti