In the island’s capital Ajaccio in the south and the northern cities of Bastia and Calvi, rioters threw firebombs, stones and Molotov cocktails at security forces and administration buildings on Wednesday evening.
The trigger was the recent attack on Yvan Colonna, an icon of the Corsican separatists imprisoned for murder. According to media reports, the Palace of Justice in Ajaccio was also hit by an incendiary bomb. The police used tear gas and shock grenades.
Difficult relationship with Paris
The relationship between Corsica and the central government in Paris has long been difficult. For decades, Corsican separatists fought – often violently – for more independence. The underground organization FLNC only laid down its arms in 2014. At about the same time, moderate nationalists gained political importance, and they now have a majority in the regional parliament. They demand an autonomous status for the island.
There have been riots on the popular holiday island for days. The unrest was triggered by an attack on the well-known Corsican nationalist Colonna in a prison in the southern French city of Arles. A fellow prisoner seriously injured him. Colonna was taken to the emergency room and is now in a coma. The Terrorist Attorney’s Office is investigating.
Colonna had been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Claude Erignac, the prefect of Corsica. The highest-ranking representative of the French state in Corsica was shot dead in Ajaccio in 1998. Colonna denied the act.
No transfer to Corsica
Demonstrators are now accusing France of being complicit in the attack on Colonna. His request to be transferred to a prison on the island was always rejected. His two accomplices are also in detention in Poissy near Paris and have never been successful in their requests to be relocated closer to their families.
While some demonstrators see this as a political decision, the government in Paris points out that the three are on a list of prisoners who need to be monitored particularly – for example because they are considered extremely violent, there is a risk of escaping or they are members of a terrorist organization. Prisoners with this special status can only serve in certain prisons. Colonna has now been removed from the list. His two accomplices can hope that there will soon be a decision in their cases as well.
Ultimately, the attack on Colonna only increased the anger and disappointment that was already there in parts of Corsica, says political scientist André Fazi from the University of Corsica. The frustration stems from the fact that the nationalists’ demands have not materialized in recent years. There is no real dialogue between the nationalist majority in the regional parliament and the government in Paris.
According to Fazi, the violent minority of nationalists includes a particularly large number of young people who only saw part of the murder of the prefect Erignac and the trial of Colonna, if at all. The Ajaccio prosecutor sees the riots of the young people as an expression of a lack of prospects. New protests have been announced for the weekend.
Source: Nachrichten
