Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin will travel to Corsica on Wednesday and Thursday to “open” a “round of talks” with “all elected officials and the island’s living forces.”
The government has “heard the demands of the elected officials of Corsica on the institutional, economic, social or cultural future” of Corsica, adds the minister, condemning the violence of recent days and calling for a “return to calm without delay ».
Sunday driving
Indeed, tensions persisted and even rose by a notch in Corsica, where slogans “French assassin state” enamelled the demonstration on Sunday in Bastia in support of Yvan Colonna, eleven days after his assault in prison.
The anger overflowed as soon as the procession arrived at the prefecture, with scuffles between the police and 200 to 300 hooded demonstrators, for some equipped with gas masks: tear gas and water cannons on one side, molotov cocktails and stones recovered from railway tracks on the other.
At the dispersal of the march, at the end of the afternoon, many clashes broke out between the police and groups of particularly virulent young people, degenerating into almost urban guerrilla warfare with nightfall. These clashes lasted until 10:30 p.m., according to the last press release from the Prefecture, which had called on “the population of downtown Bastia to avoid leaving their homes”.
Yvan Colonna has been sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Corsican prefect Claude Erignac in 1998 since being assaulted on March 2 by a fellow inmate jailed for “terrorism.”
Since then, demonstrations have multiplied on the Mediterranean island, at the call of students, high school students, nationalist organizations and trade unions. The official call for Sunday’s demonstration was sober, demanding “truth and justice for Yvan, freedom for patriots and recognition of the Corsican people”.
Anger and indignation are expressed
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“Anger and indignation are being expressed,” said Gilles Simeoni, an autonomous president of Corsica’s executive council and a former lawyer for Yvan Colonna. “The entire Corsican people are mobilized against injustice, the demand for truth and beyond for a real political solution” between the state and Corsica.
At the end of the week, the French government attempted “appeasement” by announcing the transfer to the island of two other convicted members of the “Erignac commando”. But this gesture did not manage to stifle the tensions.
Imprisoned in Arles (southern France), Yvan Colonna also long requested to be transferred to Corsica, which he was always denied.
“If there is violence, it will be the responsibility of the state”
“If there is violence, it will be the responsibility of the state. In seven years nothing has progressed, and in seven days of violence, things have changed. Violence is necessary,” said Antoine Negretti, 29, in the procession.
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