Threatening tweets and protest rallies in Ajaccio and Bastia
PARIS. Yvan Colonna, the Corsican independence activist sentenced to life in prison for the 1998 murder of Prefect Claude Erignac, died last night in Marseille, southern France, three weeks after he was attacked in Arles prison by another inmate, a jihadist. The drama sparked a series of demonstrations and violence across the island. Colonna, reduced to the point of life, died after 3 weeks in a coma.
“Yvan Colonna, Corsican patriot, lives for eternity. We will always be by your side,” tweeted the Femu a Corsica party of Gilles Simeoni, the autonomous president of the island’s Executive Council, in Corsican. Shortly before, the family had confirmed the death and asked for the utmost confidentiality. “Yvan Colonna who died for Corsica,” Core in Fronte, the main proindependence party, tweeted, accompanying the message with a blackandwhite photo of the militant nationalist. When Colonna’s death was announced, several dozen people gathered in front of the Palais de Justice in Bastia and hung banners reading “French statu assassinu”.
In Ajaccio, in front of the cathedral, groups of people gathered in silence. Threatening message from the Corsican Association for the Defense of Political Prisoners Sulidarita, who tweeted “Down with this murderous French state”.
Yvan Colonna, 61, who was sentenced to probation “on medical grounds” a few days ago, was fatally injured by a 36yearold radicalized Cameroonian inmate who attacked him during gym class. Franck Elong Abé, as the attacker is called, was serving a nineyear prison sentence for a terrorist organization. He justified his action by saying that Colonna cursed and “spoke badly about the Prophet”.
Tensions after the attack culminated in a demonstration in Bastia on March 13, in which 102 people were injured, including 77 by the police. A protest mainly motivated by the duration of the attack on Colonna, approximately 8 minutes, under the lens of a surveillance camera with no guards intervening. The attacker had even warned the guards. A visit by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on the island last week partially restored calm. Darmanin made it clear for the first time on the island that the government was willing to enter into a dialogue that could “go as far as autonomy”. Negotiations are scheduled to start in April. (HAND)