Laurella Yssap-Rinçon, former director of the slavery memorial museum in Guadeloupe, accused of favoritism, was sentenced, Tuesday April 30, to one year of suspended imprisonment, in accordance with what the prosecution had requested on January 23 . She was also sentenced to a fine of 10,000 euros, ineligibility for two years and a ban on holding a job in the public service, announced the president of the court.
The court declared “inadmissible” the constitution of civil party of the Memorial ACTe, dedicated to the memory of the slave trade and slavery, in Pointe-à-Pitre, which had requested more than 900,000 euros. Questioned by Agence France-Presse after the decision was rendered, Laurella Yssap-Rinçon refused to comment. However, she declared to Guadeloupe La 1ère “to have appealed”.
Business at Memorial ACTe has been in the spotlight for a long time: since 2021, numerous conflicts have existed within the establishment, notably between the former director and the current president of its board of directors, Ary Chalus, also regional president. The latter had launched several revocation procedures against Ms. Yssap-Rinçon, rejected several times by the administrative court, before her referral to the criminal court for infringement of public contracts.
PNF investigation
In November 2023, a report from the regional chamber of accounts had scrutinized the management of the museum, pointing out numerous failures: “disingenuous accounts”, “interference from the region” in one of its satellite establishments and absence of a scientific project in one museum which “does not meet the ambitions” of the establishment, which aimed to make Guadeloupe the world center for research into the slave trade.
This report gave rise, one month before its publication, to a scathing indictment from the financial prosecutor to the Court of Auditors. Since 2019, the Memorial has also been under the control of an investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office regarding the contracts linked to its construction, for which the museum called on tens of millions of euros in European subsidies.
