• Yvan Colonna is still between life and death since his assault within Arles prison by a fellow prisoner.

  • In Corsica, the systematic refusal to reconcile the detainee is singled out. 

They were, Sunday afternoon, several thousand – 4,200 according to the prefecture, 15,000 according to the organizers – to brave the rain in Corte, in Haute-Corse, to support Yvan Colonna.

The separatist, sentenced to life for the assassination of the prefect Erignac, is still between life and death this Monday after being violently attacked by one of his co-detainees, Franck Elong Abé, sentenced for acts of terrorism in Afghanistan .

Nearly 8 minutes of incredible violence, "systematic relentlessness", in the words of the anti-terrorism public prosecutor, Jean-François Ricard, who "leaves little doubt about the homicidal intentions" of the suspect.

The latter admitted the facts in police custody, indicating that he had done so after remarks that he considered blasphemous.

But behind this attack and the conditions of it, within the prison of Arles itself, it is the thorny file of the transfer of Corsican detainees on the island which resurfaces.

"We can legitimately think that if he had been brought closer, Yvan Colonna would not have been exposed to the risks of the extremist violence of which he was the victim", declared one of his lawyers, Me Patrice Spinosi, the day after the assassination attempt.

For almost 10 years, his councils have been asking him to serve the end of his sentence on his native island.

A request refused year after year.

In question: his status of "DPS" - particularly guarded detainee - which includes around 350 detainees in France, most from the world of organized crime or terrorism, considered to present increased risks of escape or because of their dangerousness.

A debate that transcends political divisions

However, if the Borgo prison, not far from Bastia, is authorized to receive long sentences, it is not equipped to monitor this type of detention.

"This question of bringing prisoners closer together already transcended the political divisions on the island before this case, but is now being posed with even more vigor", notes political scientist Xavier Crettiez, a fine connoisseur of Corsican nationalism, teacher at Sciences Po Saint-Germain- in-Laye.

How, indeed, to argue that a detainee requires increased vigilance and at the same time explain that he could be the subject of an assassination attempt for nearly 10 minutes, far from the surveillance of the guards?

In December, island deputies and senators from all sides signed a column in

Le Monde

to support this rapprochement, seeing in these systematic refusals a decision more political than security.

Because Yvan Colonna is not the only one in this situation.

These requests for reconciliation have always been refused to Alain Ferrandi and Pierre Alessandri, also sentenced to life in this case.

“A 'particularly flagged detainee' is, according to the texts, a detainee who presents a particular danger or, for example, for whom there is a risk of escape.

Concerning these three men, their very long detention passed without any difficulty or incident”, wrote the parliamentarians.

Appeal by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office

Both finished serving their period of security in 2017. In December 2020, even though the national commission for DPS files, which renews or not this status decided in favor of lifting this measure, the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, opposed it.

At the end of February, it was the national anti-terrorist prosecutor's office which put a brake on this measure of rapprochement.

While Alain Ferrandi was granted a semi-freedom detention regime on the island, the prosecution appealed.

A situation that had experienced, a few weeks earlier, his former accomplice Pierre Alessandri.

Could the aggression of Yvan Colonna change the situation?

The Prime Minister must decide shortly on the possible lifting of the status of "DPS" for these two detainees.

Miscellaneous facts

Assault on Yvan Colonna: A Corsica Ferries boat prevented from docking in Ajaccio

Justice

Aggression of Yvan Colonna: The detainee indicted for attempted terrorist assassination

  • Jail

  • Yvan colonna

  • Aggression

  • Justice

  • Society

  • 0 comment

  • 0 share

    • Share on Messenger

    • Share on Facebook

    • Share on Twitter

    • Share on Flipboard

    • Share on Pinterest

    • Share on Linkedin

    • Send by Mail

  • To safeguard

  • A fault ?

  • To print