France: Corsican independence activist Yvan Colonna died
Independence activist Yvan Colonna died on March 21, 2022 © DANIEL PIER NURPHOTO VIA AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The famous Corsican prisoner, seriously injured after being attacked by another prisoner in Arles prison on March 2, and who had since been in a coma, died on Monday in Marseille, his family announced via his lawyer.
Yvan Colonna had been found guilty of the assassination of the prefect of Corse-du-Sud, Claude Érignac, perpetrated on February 6, 1998.
Advertising
Read more
“
The family of Yvan Colonna confirms his death this evening at the hospital in Marseille.
She asks that her mourning be respected and will not make any comment
, ”said Me Patrick Spinosi to AFP, by text message, thus confirming information also obtained by AFP from three police sources and initially given by the daily
Le Parisien
.
Yvan Colonna had been in a coma
since his attack in early March
at the central house in Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône), where he was serving his prison sentence for his participation in the assassination of the prefect Claude Érignac in 1998 in Ajaccio.
He had been violently attacked in the prison sports hall by Franck Elong Abé, a 36-year-old Cameroonian presented as a "jihadist", who was serving several sentences including one of nine years' imprisonment for "terrorist criminal association".
This radicalized detainee has since been indicted for attempted terrorist assassination.
According to several sources, the aggressor of Yvan Colonna had justified his act by the fact that the Corsican militant would have blasphemed and "
spoke badly of the Prophet
".
The independence activist, who was 61, was the victim
of "strangulation with his bare hands and then suffocation
", with a plastic bag, said Tarascon prosecutor Laurent Gumbau.
This aggression had
provoked an explosion of anger
, with sometimes violent demonstrations, throughout Corsica, and this for nearly two weeks.
This anger culminated in riots on March 13 in Bastia, with a demonstration that left 102 injured, including 77 on the side of the police.
Calm returned last week with a three-day visit to Corsica by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, during which the latter promised discussions with Corsican elected officials and the active forces of the island which could
lead to a possible autonomy
for the community.
►
Listen to the Guest France: Anger in Corsica after the Colonna attack, "they are in a colonial struggle"
With agencies
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
France
Justice