After his attack last week by a fellow prisoner in Arles, where he was serving his sentence for the assassination of the prefect Claude Erignac in 1998, Yvan Colonna is still between life and death, this Thursday.
Last Sunday, a demonstration brought together 4,200 people according to the authorities and 15,000 according to the organizers in Corte in Haute-Corse.
And Wednesday evening, the anger rose a notch, with an intrusion and fire starts in the Ajaccio courthouse and clashes between demonstrators and the police which left fourteen injured.
The youth, at the initiative of this unprecedented mobilization, succeeded in uniting the inhabitants of the Island of Beauty, well beyond the nationalists.
From our special correspondent in Ajaccio,
In the streets of Ajaccio, this Thursday morning, the vestiges of the violence of the day before testify to the anger of the Corsicans, who again took to the streets to support Yvan Colonna.
The tension rose a notch at nightfall, with an intrusion and fire starting in the Ajaccio courthouse, as well as clashes between demonstrators and the police which left fourteen injured, depending on the prefecture.
Since the nationalist militant, sentenced for the assassination of the prefect Claude Erignac in 1998, was violently attacked by a fellow prisoner imprisoned for terrorism, demonstrations have multiplied on the island at the call of students, high school students, nationalist organizations or trade unions, which accuse the state of bearing a heavy responsibility.
“What we are going through is just unbearable.
Yvan Colonna was supposed to be protected in his prison.
There was a state plot, we can even speak of a state crime, ”denounces Murielle, mother of a high school student who came to demonstrate alongside hundreds of young people, this Thursday morning, in front of the prefecture of Corsica-du -South.
double violence
Like other parents, as well as teachers and elected officials, Murielle decided to stand in front of the procession “to protect young people”.
“There have already been too many injuries among young people.
We forget it, but they are minors, children”, continues the one who seems to know the first name of each of the high school students in the procession, before addressing several of them directly: “That’s enough now, calm down , we do this peacefully.
»
But regardless of their age, the anger of the Corsicans is unanimous.
Because "however dramatic it is", the aggression of Yvan Colonna highlights "the injustice on the question of Corsican prisoners", analyzes Marie-Romagne, 62, away from the crowd.
By refusing the transfer of Yvan Colonna to the Island of Beauty, "the State has disguised a death sentence for our political convicts, in particular these three men [in addition to Colonna, Pierre Alessandri and Alain Ferrandi are also imprisoned on the continent for the assassination of the prefect Erignac]”, adds Murielle.
“In terms of the law, Yvan Colonna had the right to finish his sentence with his family.
But the government maintained the status of DPS
[preventing its transfer].
People do not understand, it is experienced as a social injustice, as unequal treatment compared to continental prisoners, ”abounds Thierry Dominici, professor of political science at the University of Bordeaux.
For the specialist, there is a kind of double violence for the Corsicans: "They realize first that the law is not applied for Corsican prisoners, but that in addition, it is for the others detained”, he deciphers.
Corsicans treated "differently from other regions"
But the issue of prisoners, for Marie-Romagna, is above all "the straw that broke the camel's back".
Beyond the emotion aroused by the aggression of Yvan Colonna and the transfer of the detainees, it is that of the Corsican elected officials who angers the population of the island.
“The nationalists won the territorial elections with 70% of the vote, and yet we don't listen to them, we pretend they haven't won.
There is still no state consideration.
We have a feeling of denial of democracy ”, denounced the day before Ghjacumu-Tumasgiu, high school student in Ajaccio.
An idea shared by Murielle: "We feel treated completely differently from other regions by the French State, sidelined, when we see that we do not leave the assembly of Corsica, which we elected by suffrage universal, doing his job properly,”
Even if the nationalist elected officials have "exploded the scores", their skills are limited, notes Thierry Dominici.
“For example, they voted for the co-official status of the Corsican language, but that is not their responsibility.
Somehow, it is not because they obtained 70% of the votes that the State will negotiate with them.
The state takes note of this score, but that's all, ”deciphers the teacher.
A lack of consideration which only reinforces the feeling of exclusion of the inhabitants, analyzes Thierry Dominici, who observes "
a feeling of being downgraded, sidelined, even blacklisted by identity,” he continues.
A feeling that inevitably brings the question of autonomy and independence back to the table, assures the teacher: “Finally, the Corsicans will never be considered as totally French and never as only Corsican”.
But for Marie-Romagne, the divide between Corsica and the continent is not new: “It has always existed.
The Corsican people have never really been listened to by the state”.
Youth succeeds in uniting the island
But the mobilization that has taken shape since the attack on Yvan Colonna does not resemble the previous ones.
Usually, "it is the nationalists who manage the dispute", underlines Thierry Dominici.
This time, it was the youth, the spearhead of the mobilization, who took up the torch: “Usually, we instrumentalized young people to start street movements.
There, it is the opposite, it is the young people who started the machine, ”he continues, recalling that the university movement has become autonomous since the election of the nationalists in 2015.
And if the Corsican youth has succeeded in one thing, it is that of uniting the inhabitants of the island of Beauty, well beyond the nationalists.
“It is the entire Corsican people who are mobilizing.
We saw it in Corte, there are students, high school students, nationalists, but nothing.
Even the Church reacted”, rejoices Angèle, designated “spokesperson”, by her comrades from Flesch high school.
Our file on Yvan Colonna
For Thierry Dominici, the massive mobilization is the symbol of a “popular massification of nationalism”.
“Nationalism has now gone beyond the political aspect, it now affects all social and generational stratifications,” concludes the teacher.
Society
Aggression of Yvan Colonna: "It's also a bit of our story somewhere..." Corsican youth, spearhead of the mobilization
Society
Aggression of Yvan Colonna: The thorny debate on the transfer of detainees to Corsica revived
Video
claude erignac
Yvan colonna
Ajaccio
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