“His death is an injustice and a tragedy, which will mark the contemporary history of Corsica and its people”. The words of Gilles Simeonithe President of the Island’s Executive Council, reflect the great emotion that reigns among the islanders after the death of Yvan Colonna, Monday, March 21, nearly three weeks after his attack, in Arles prison, by a fellow prisoner radicalized convicted of terrorism.
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Since then, tributes have multiplied and transcended political and partisan divisions, proof of the importance of this independence figure for Corsican society. That “shared indignation brews wider than just the nationalists”, emphasizes political scientist Thierry Dominici, professor of political science at the University of Bordeaux, specialist in nationalism on the island. He explains to franceinfo how this activist, who has always claimed his innocence in the assassination of the prefect Erignac, became “the embodiment of all the injustice done to Corsica”.
franceinfo: What does Yvan Colonna represent in the popular imagination? Why is he such an important figure for the Corsicans?
Thierry Dominici : Since his escape, through his arrest and his trial, Yvan Colonna embodies the tutelary image of the nationalist of resistance: he is the one who defied “the colonial state”. His four years on the run have remained a strong symbol, which has fueled the myth of the social bandit. He was pursued by all the police in the world, helicopters flew over the forest of Cargèse, his family stronghold, every day. As he resisted, he gained more and more popular support.
However, after the assassination of the prefect Erignac, there was general disapproval on the island, with a demonstration bringing together 30,000 people, or more than 10% of the Corsican population. The FLNC had also condemned the assassination of the prefect while defending those who had perpetrated it, assuring that they had undergone a recruitment because of sterile negotiations with the government. In short, this assassination was the fault of the state.
If his aggression arouses such strong emotion among the Corsicans, it is because they see it as a great injustice. They believe his death could have been avoided by lifting his DPS status. [détenu particulièrement signalé] : he would then have been brought closer to Borgo prison [en Haute-Corse] and would not have suffered the violence of a jihadist.
“Many were also scandalized that Jean Castex ended up agreeing to lift the DPS status for Yvan Colonna when he was between life and death.”
Thierry Dominiciat franceinfo
This decision was, in fact, much too late. Islanders have long felt that the law works at two speeds for them. And the aggression of Yvan Colonna reinforced this feeling of contempt. While the nationalists have for years castigated the fact that their former political prisoners are on file S, like the terrorists, it is precisely a jihadist who attacks one of their own. From then on, Yvan Colonna lost his status as a nationalist terrorist to become a martyr of Islamist terrorism. He is even the first victim, in France, in 2022.
Many high school students took to the streets on Tuesday morning to show their emotion. How to explain the attachment of youth towards him?
The image of Yvan Colonna is indeed very anchored in the minds of young people. For them, he is the last resistant of Corsican nationalism and embodies the image of the rebel without a hood on the walls of the cities, which are covered with graffiti to his glory.
He also appears as the insular Che Guevara for many young people who are highly politicized, especially on the far left. When I met them in 2016-2017, during my fieldwork, some spoke to me about [Thomas] Sankara, [Mikhaïl] Bakunin… This generation did not experience the armed violence of the FLNC and therefore built its own myth of resistance nationalism. Unlike the FLNC, which was in a guerrilla logic with targeted attacks, the young people lean more towards mass violence with riots, as we have seen in recent weeks, very comparable to the “black blocks”.
“What struck me the most was the scale of the mobilization: more than 15,000 people in Bastia and more than 10,000 in Corte, which is not a big city, it’s impressive.”
Thierry Dominiciat franceinfo
For the first time, this mobilization was carried by the student movements. Usually, they are exploited by political parties. But now that nationalism is the majority on the island, with the election of Simeoni in the territorial elections in 2015, the student unions have empowered themselves. Usually competitive, they united in a nationwide call to protest.
They seize the public space, which had remained vacant with the election of the nationalists. When they were re-elected in 2017, the young people withdrew from the violence which shadowed the negotiations because the political representatives asked them to be wiser, which they did. But they were waiting for the trigger so they could come back.
These young people have nothing to do with autonomy. They want to rock the movement and take advantage of the catalyst represented by the death of Yvan Colonna to be present again in the media and obtain independence. This youth, who voted en masse for nationalism, believes that the street, in terms of political violence, remains the only possibility to make their voices heard.
Do you think that sadness and mourning will take precedence over anger and violence?
I would like the population to hear what the Colonna family said, who asked everyone to respect their grief. But if the state does not provide a strong response, it will again turn into urban clashes. The government should explain the situation in Corsica to all French people, clearly and precisely, in a logic of reconciliation, with why not a mea culpa.
It would be necessary, more generally, to move towards a logic of conciliation and a real common political solution by leaving a space for the youth to speak. The real problem for them is: what is their future?
“Many young people are at bac + 4, bac + 5 and live off seasonal jobs.”
Thierry Dominiciat franceinfo
There is an unemployment rate in Corsica comparable to Reunion or Martinique and many believe that the republican system should work better. Youth must be brought out of its dystopia. Without that, the violence is likely to be terrible. And if the opposite message remains that of autonomy, it will not be heard by the resistance nationalists. The FLNC, which had laid down its arms after forty years of armed struggle, recently threatened to take action again. The group has been demilitarized but not dematerialized, its members still exist. For me, this message is a first attempt to see what resonance it will have, especially among young people. If he takes, maybe they will continue, even if I don’t really believe in it.