“Assassin’s French state”: the tone was immediately set on Sunday in Bastia during the demonstration in support of Yvan Colonna, eleven days after the attack on the prison of this pro-independence activist convicted of his involvement in the assassination of Prefect Erignac.
Taken up by the crowd of a few thousand people who left under a fine and cold rain from the Bastia courthouse, this slogan reflected the tension on the island since March 2 and the aggression of the former shepherd in the prison of Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône), which plunged him into a coma.
The anger quickly overflowed, as soon as the procession arrived at the prefecture, with scuffles between the police and 200 to 300 hooded demonstrators, dressed in black and for some equipped with gas masks: tear gas and cannons. water on one side, molotov cocktails and pebbles recovered from railway tracks on the other, the most moderate had been forced to desert. In the end, the toll is 38 injured, including 24 members of the police.
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“Liberty, Liberty! ”: hoods on the head for the youngest, umbrella for the oldest, all generations were represented in a crowd on which floated numerous flags struck with the head of Moor, as well as banners bearing the face of Colonna.
The public prosecutor of Bastia, Arnaud Viornery, explained at the start of the evening: “Riots have been taking place in Bastia since 4:30 p.m., and the violence continues”. Around 5:30 p.m., a fire broke out at the entrance to the tax office, whose windows had been shattered by molotov cocktails. And several pallet lights were lit on the roadway here and there.
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“We want more progress”
“We see that in seven days the youth has succeeded in mobilizing to be heard…, but it’s only a small step, we want more progress, dialogue, recognition of our people”, said insisted Lelia Beretti, 27.
Gilles Simeoni, autonomous president of the executive council of Corsica and former lawyer of Yvan Colonna, present in the procession, “anger and indignation are expressed. But what matters is that the entire Corsican people are mobilized against injustice, the demand for truth and beyond for a real political solution “between the state and Corsica.
Prime Minister Jean Castex tried to play the appeasement card last week by lifting the status of “particularly reported detainee” (DPS) of Pierre Alessandri and Alain Ferrandi, two other members of the “Erignac commando” still detained on the continent. Statute that blocked the rapprochement of the three men in a Corsican prison. Apparently insufficient.
“We don’t care about ourselves”
” It’s too late ! The Corsicans are not fooled. We don’t care about us, ”said Antoine Negretti, 29. “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”.
According to the prefecture, the demonstration gathered 7,000 people in Bastia this Sunday. 12,000 according to the organizers of the rally. Almost double the previous Sunday in Corte.
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