Will it be time for appeasement in Corsica? Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Friday that he lifted the status of “particularly reported detainee” (DPS) of Alain Ferrandi and Pierre Alessandri, two members of the Erignac commando. Since Yvan Colonna, sentenced to life imprisonment for the assassination of the prefect of Corsica Claude Erignac in 1998, has been in a coma, after being attacked on March 2 in his prison in Arles by a fellow prisoner imprisoned for terrorism, the anger rumbles on the island. With this announcement, the French government hopes to calm tensions.
The lifting of DPS status for Alain Ferrandi and Petru Alessandri results from an application of the law that we were calling for. It’s a first step.
Let’s continue the mobilization to obtain a political solution and the legitimate progress that Corsica expects!— Paul-André Colombani (@pacolombani) March 11, 2022
These two men have been imprisoned in France for twenty years under the status of DPS involving specific security measures which notably prevented their incarceration on their island. Since their conviction in 1999, the lifting of this status was one of the major points of tension between Corsica and the government.
The decision of the Prime Minister to lift this status applies “without delay” and thus opens the way to a rapprochement in Corsica of the two detainees. But Jean Castex especially hopes to bring down Corsican anger. Demonstrations have ignited major cities such as Bastia and Ajaccio since Wednesday. The day before, the Prime Minister had tried to ease tensions by raising, “for human reasons”, the DPS status of Yvan Colonna, sentenced to life imprisonment. A vain attempt, the decision was welcomed as a provocation, the prisoner now finding himself between life and death in a hospital in Marseille.
Alongside his outstretched hand policy, Jean Castex said “strongly condemn” violence, but also “the totally inappropriate remarks accusing the State of having intentionally lent a hand to the very serious aggression of which Yvan Colonna was the victim”. The autonomist president of the Executive Council of Corsica, Gilles Simeoni, for his part called on the State to “to open a new political cycle and to say clearly that there is a Corsican question”. From “strong signals” expected looked good “immediate lifting of DPS status” of Alessandri and Ferrandi, as well as their transfer to the Corsican prison of Borgo.
Beyond the lifting of the DPS status, Jean Castex says he wants to open a new chapter of relations with Corsica. In particular, he proposed “that once calm has returned to the island, the dialogue initiated in recent months on the evolution of the status of the community of Corsica, as well as on the major economic and social issues of the territory can resume”. The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, will be responsible for making proposals to him soon.