(Nouméa) A man died from his injuries in New Caledonia, bringing to eight the number of deaths since the start of unrest in the French archipelago in the South Pacific, where the curfew was extended by a week on Saturday, on the eve of European elections under high security.
One of the two men who had been shot by mobile gendarmes on Monday died on Friday, the Nouméa public prosecutor announced in a press release on Saturday, while the archipelago has been going through its most serious crisis since mid-May since mid-May. the 1980s.
The person who lost his life is a 26-year-old Kanak (native) who was fatally injured in the head, according to the prosecutor.
The events took place on Monday at a nerve center on the road leading from Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, to the international airport, long blocked by the separatists. The latter have been protesting for more than three weeks against a constitutional reform which they accuse of marginalizing the Kanak population.
According to the gendarmes’ version relayed by prosecutor Yves Dupas, they, who were not on duty at the time, had used their weapon to respond to gunshots.
Still according to this account, the gendarmes’ rental car, which had a bullet hole according to findings, had been hit by a pick-up in which there were three men, including the two injured by gunfire.
According to the first medico-legal findings, “the presence in the skull of a metal projectile” caused several fractures as well as significant brain damage, underlined the prosecutor.
An autopsy was ordered by the prosecution and investigations are continuing, according to the press release. On Monday, the prosecutor announced that he had opened an investigation entrusted to the Nouméa Research Section for “attempted murder of a person holding public authority”.
The Field Action Coordination Unit (CCAT) of Païta, pro-independence, gave another version of the facts. According to it, which accuses loyalist “militias”, motorists took advantage of the clearing of the road by the police to pass “at high speed, opening fire with live bullets on our young people positioned on the outskirts of the road “.
This version was contested by the prosecutor, according to whom it “in no way corresponds to the findings made”.
Saturday after paying tribute to the victims, the president of the government of New Caledonia Louis Mapou called for writing a “new page” in the history of the archipelago.
The independence leader noted that “the path of appeasement and de-escalation” agreed with President Emmanuel Macron during his trip on May 23 “has not yet resulted in a restoration of the situation”, urging the head of the State and Parliament to agree “that this constitutional law goes against the grain of history” of New Caledonia.
In this still tense context, the South Pacific archipelago will be one of the first French territories to vote for the European elections from 7 a.m. Sunday (10 p.m. Saturday in Paris) with times adjusted to take into account the curfew .
Since the start of the crisis on May 13 in New Caledonia, eight people have lost their lives, including two gendarmes.