Cargèse is preparing to bury the child of the country

Friday March 25, the portrait of Yvan Colonna is displayed in all the streets of Cargèse (Corse-du-Sud), on graffiti or banners hung on the balcony. All the inhabitants of his native village await the arrival of the coffin, which must leave Ajaccio (Corse-du-Sud) at noon. “It is a great sadness. I knew him when he was little, and it really hurts to see a kid who goes away like that“, confides a woman, very moved. The funeral of the nationalist militant, condemned for the murder of the prefect Érignac in 1998, will take place at 3 p.m.

The town of barely 1,300 souls will be the center of attention in the afternoon. “I think there will be a lot of people, but we’ll deal with it. People here are very respectful about people’s death, mourning“, explains a resident. In front of the Latin church, some Corsicans are already gathered, the flowers and the chairs are set up for the mass. “Everyone here cares“, assures Monsignor Antoine Forget, the priest of Cargèse. A “dead island” operation has been decreed throughout Corsica, and many town halls have closed their doors for the day.