It’s a gesture “appeasement”. Jean Castex lifted, on Friday March 11, the status of particularly reported detainee (DPS) of Alain Ferrandi and Pierre Alessandri, two members of the commando which killed the prefect Erignac. The Prime Minister had taken a similar decision on Tuesday for Yvan Colonna, whose attack sparked a series of demonstrations in Corsica. This decision, which applies “without delay”therefore opens the way to a rapprochement on the Island of Beauty of these detainees, sentenced to life imprisonment for the assassination of the prefect Claude Erignac, in 1998. Franceinfo explains to you why the situation of these Corsican detainees leads to so much dissension, then that a new demonstration is planned for Sunday in Bastia at 3 p.m.
Because the claims are not new
The situation of the Corsican detainees has crystallized the tensions between the islanders and the French state for years. Imprisoned for acts of terrorism, they are referred to by nationalists as “political prisoners”. In 1981 and 1989, two amnesty laws for around forty of them were passed. Over the following decades, the subject came up regularly. In 2004, the government in place then committed to the reconciliation of Corsican detainees in island prisons. But not everyone was affected. So, in May 2015, the Assembly of Corsica voted by a very large majority for the amnesty dand every “political prisoners”. However, the case has made little progress.
Today, this demand is at the heart of the demonstrations organized since the attempted assassination of Yvan Colonna, which caused emotion and anger on the island. Many students, high school students and sometimes a few college students took to the streets. The University of Corsica, in Corte, was blocked. After this mobilization, the members of the board of directors of the establishment unanimously adopted, Tuesday, March 8, a motion in support of Yvan Colonna. And wrote in a press release:
“The university community solemnly demands the release of all Corsican political prisoners, a founding act of a new page in the history of Corsica.”
The Board of Directors of the University of Corsicain a press release
“The university wanted to mark a political act to enter another phase of discussion and dialogue. Since 2015, our demands have come up against the coldness of the State. What happened with Yvan Colonna is the spark who set fire to the powder, details to franceinfo Alain Di Meglio, vice-president of the board of directors of the University of Corsica.
Because the claims around the Corsican detainees focus on the three members of the Erignac commando. Pierre Alessandri, 63, and Alain Ferrandi, 62, were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2003, like Yvan Colonna, 61, sentenced in 2007. The first two are serving their sentences at the central prison in Poissy (Yvelines ) and the third in Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône). For years, nationalist activists and groups for the release of Corsican “political prisoners” are calling their rapprochement at the Borgo prison center (Haute-Corse).
Because it is experienced as an injustice
“These three prisoners must benefit from the application of French law, no more no less”, insists to franceinfo Michel Castellani. MP for Haute-Corse, he is a signatory, like thirteen other elected officials, of a forum published at the end of 2021 in The world to demand the rapprochement of the Erignac commando “in the name of law”. For this to be effective, these deputies from all sides demanded the lifting of the status of particularly reported detainee.
“Maintaining this status is the only legal obstacle to bringing them closer to the Borgo penitentiary center, because it is not authorized to receive this type of detainee.”
The signatories of the tribunein the world”
No DPS is assigned to the detention center: orientation in a central house should be preferred. Because this status can lead to increased monitoring of written and telephone correspondence, more regular reports on the behavior of the detainee and specific searches.
According to a circular from the Keeper of the Seals, guarantor of the decision, the inclusion of a detainee in the DPS directory is based on six criteria, including membership in organized crime or terrorist movements, the risk of escape, or still the dangerousness in detention. So many elements which do not apply, according to their supporters, to Pierre Alessandri, Alain Ferrandi and Yvan Colonna, whose detention took place without major incident. This explains why, after the decision announced on Friday, “the feeling of satisfaction” is present, but not complete. “Only the law applies. I want to say ‘finally'”, reacted Gilles Simeoni, the autonomist president of the Executive Council of Corsica, to AFP.
“This decision was necessary, justified and it is part of a normal application of the law”welcomes Françoise Davideau, lawyer for Alain Ferrandi, contacted by franceinfo. “She should have been taken long ago. The DPS status was not relevant, she pleads. We hope this is the first step towards a more constructed dialogue.” For the lawyer, the next step is to prepare for the hearing, scheduled for April 21, during which the appeal of the national anti-terrorism prosecution (Pnat) on a sentence adjustment with semi-freedom regime will be examined. according to Alain Ferrandi. Like Pierre Alessandri, he has been eligible for parole since May 2017. The arrangement requested provided that Alain Ferrandi worked during the day and slept in Borgo prison (Haute-Corse) in the evening. “Reconciliation in Corsica only makes sense if there is a sentence adjustment”insists Françoise Davideau.
Because it illustrates a crisis of confidence with the state
“The lifting of the DPS status opens the door, but we must respect the stages of the process for the rapprochement, in a timeframe that we hope will be as short as possible”, abounds Thierry Casanova, nationalist activist, friend of Pierre Alessandri and Alain Ferrandi, on franceinfo. Reconciliation therefore remains one of the watchwords of Sunday’s rally. Another reason for the gathering directly concerns the attempted assassination of Yvan Colonna, still between life and death. “We want to obtain full transparency on the investigation and the hearings in progress. We need to know what really happened”hammers Thierry Casanova, who planned to demonstrate.
“No one trusts the explanations given by the prosecutor. If we don’t put the pressure on, we won’t get the truth.”
Thierry Casanova, friend of Alain Ferrandi and Pierre Alessandrion franceinfo
Many protesters believe that Yvan Colonna would not be in a coma if he could have been detained in Corsica. And thus see the situation as a “logic of state revenge” of the assassination of the prefect Erignac, years after the events. “The State bears an overwhelming, primary responsibility in this affair and on several levels.said Gilles Simeoni after the attack.
the slogan “Statu francese assassinu” (“French state assassin”) is moreover widely taken up since the start of the protest, especially by the youngest, who are not giving up. The Yvan Colonna affair fed their imagination : the figure of the militant is erected “myth” among high school and university students, explains on BFMTV Thierry Dominici, political science teacher at the University of Bordeaux. “The French State is not an assassin. To claim the contrary is contrary to the truth”replied Amaury de Saint-Quentin, the new prefect of Corsica.
“There is a work of memory and resilience to be done on the assassination of the prefect Erignac, on both sides”, recognizes Thierry Casanova, who believes that the claims go well beyond and relate to “the recognition of the Corsican people as a whole”. One “problem” that he judges “deep” and “rooted for years”. “You have to be able to start on new bases and establish bonds of trust: that’s what will be the hardest part”he says.