gatherings organized in Corsica

In front of Ajaccio cathedral, a few dozen Corsicans have gathered this evening in memory of Yvan Colonna like everywhere on the island. “Out of respect for the dead, out of respect for the family, as a sign of mourning, respect and on a human leveln,” says one resident. “For me he’s a brother at heart, he’s a fighter, he’s a nationalist like me“, explains a man in front of the forecourt.

Sentenced for the assassination of the prefect Erignac in February 1998, yvan Colonna has always maintained his innocence. “Perhaps we have the profile of the people who are responsible for this action, but we are not there for nothing“, he declared in an interview granted a year later. He became the most wanted man in France. Four years on the run in the maquis, to escape the police, and an arrest in a sheepfold in 2003. Since then, his conditions of detention are a political issue. The ultra-violent attack he sufferedand ignitedstar part of the youth vsorse for three weeks. Discussions on the autonomy of the island are ongoing.