One could fear a new conflagration. The announcement of the death of Yvan Colonna, a black figure in the Corsican armed struggle, did not ultimately upset the calm on the island on Monday evening. In Bastia, only a few dozen people gathered in front of the gates of the courthouse where they hung two banners bearing the slogan “Statu inglese murdered” (“murderous French state”). Another silent rally took place in Ajaccio, in front of the cathedral.
The only angry message came from the association for the defense of Corsican political prisoners, Sulidarita, which, via its general secretary, tweeted: “Woe to this murderous French state”. “Yvan Colonna, Corsican patriot, alive and well for eternity! We will always be by your side,” for its part reacted on Twitter, in the Corsican language, the Femu a Corsica party of Gilles Simeoni, the autonomist president of the executive council of the island.
This Tuesday morning, government spokesman Gabriel Attal calls “quiet” and “to dialog” on the island. In an interview on Europe1, he also assures that “all light will be shed” on Colonna’s aggression. “Clearly, there was a very serious malfunction”affirms Attal, stressing that an inspection had been carried out by the Prime Minister.
explosion of anger
Yvan Colonna, 61, to whom justice had granted a suspension of sentence “for medical reasons” on Thursday, had been between life and death since his violent attack in early March at the central house in Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône ), where he was serving his sentence for participating in the assassination of the prefect Claude Erignac in 1998 in Ajaccio. He had been very seriously injured by a radicalized fellow prisoner, a 36-year-old Cameroonian presented as a “jihadist” who had attacked him in the prison gym.
This aggression had provoked an explosion of anger in Corsica, with sometimes violent demonstrations throughout the island, and this for nearly two weeks, behind this widely shared slogan of“murderous French state”. Tensions that had culminated in riots on March 13 in Bastia, where a demonstration left 102 injured, including 77 on the side of the police.
Anger in particular motivated by the length of the attack on Yvan Colonna, nearly eight minutes, under the gaze of a surveillance camera, without any supervisor intervening. It was the attacker himself who finally alerted the guards.
To read, our interview with Thierry Dominici, researcher who has worked on nationalism on the island
A few days before the riots in Bastia, after taking the same step for Yvan Colonna, Prime Minister Jean Castex had lifted, for the sake of appeasement, the status of “particularly reported detainee” (DPS) of Alain Ferrandi and Pierre Alessandri, the other two members of the “Erignac commando” sentenced to life imprisonment.
Calm finally returned to Corsica last week with a three-day visit by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, during which he promised discussions with Corsican elected officials and the active forces of the island which could lead to a possible autonomy for the community. These negotiations will begin in April and should be concluded by the end of 2022.
Update : at 8:30 a.m., with statements by Gabriel Attal.