Bastia in turmoil, the public finance center set on fire

7,000 demonstrators, according to the police, marched on Sunday March 13 in the streets of Bastia (Haute-Corse). They gathered at the call of Corsican youth, in support of Yvan Colonna, victim of an assassination attempt in prison on March 2. “The murderous French state”, accuses the banner. An hour after the departure of the procession, around 200 young people, hooded, took their places in front of the prefecture. Projectiles and Molotov cocktails were thrown at the security forces, who responded by firing stun grenades and tear gas.

The demonstrators of the first procession, in the background, support the young people. “It is necessary, only violence pays off. We’ve been in power for six years, they haven’t given us anything, they take us for fools. I condemn violence, but we have to come to this“, confides a protester. “There is such a behavior of the French State vis-à-vis Corsica, that yes, it is an expression. It may be blameworthy, but hey…“, abounds a woman. The gates of the public finance center were torn down and the building burned down.