Hundreds of people was expecting the remains of the independence activist in the Corsican capital, before his funeral on Friday in his family village of Cargèse.
Le Monde with AFP
The coffin of Yvan Colonna arrived Wednesday, March 23, at Ajaccio, where he was welcomed by a hedge of honor. At least 1,500 people, according to the authorities, were massed along the road leaving the airport to pay tribute to him. Red lights were aligned with the bitumen and hundreds of corsican flags representing a Moor’s head capped with a white headband were brandished, found a journalist from France Press TV (AFPTV).
At the passage of the odor carrying the coffin covered with a Corsican flag, some in the silent crowd approached to touch the vehicle, others made the sign of the cross. “We want to show the French state that there is a Corsican people” and that “when one touches one of ours, we are all there, whatever the divisions that we can have,” reacted to From AFPTV Jean Mattei, a known figure of the island music scene. “What happened to him in prison is inadmissible,” continued a little further Monique Antonietti, a retired 63-year-old who says feel “between hatred and sadness”.
“c is inappropriate “
Yvan Colonna was violently assaulted March 2 in the sports hall of the Prison d’Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône) by a codérît that was serving a sentence for terrorism. After almost three weeks of coma, this former shepherd, sentenced to the perpetuity for the assassination of the Prefect Erignac in 1998, died Monday night at 61 in a Marseille hospital.
Since the announcement of his death, the recollection prevailed on the island, contrasting with the scenes of violence that enamelled the different supporting events for nearly two weeks.
The Collectivity of Corsica put on Tuesday its flags in Bern. Asked about this Wednesday during an interview at M6, President Emmanuel Macron denounced “a fault”. “It’s inappropriate,” said the head of state. Wednesday night, a dozen corsican flags placed in Berne have been hung by external protests of the Ajaccio prefecture, with the “glory to you yvan” banner in Corsica.
His funeral will take place on Friday at 15:00 in Cargèse, his family village of some 1,300 inhabitants in western Corsica, according to sources close to the file and me Patrice Spinosi, one of the family lawyers deceased. No details filtered at this stage on the consequence of the ceremony.
“I acted alone”
In order to calm tensions less than three weeks of the presidential election, the government has made several cases of appeasement in recent days: announcement of negotiations on possible autonomy of Corsica, bringing together by mid-April to the Corsica de Borgo prison of the other two detainees of the commando Erignac, Alain Ferrandi and Pierre Alessandri.
Yvan Colonna also demanded his longstanding rapprochement in Corsica but had never been able to obtain it because of his particularly reported inmate status (DPS). Many corsicas believe that by refusing this request, the state has a share of responsibility, hence the slogan “French state murder” largely present in the manifestations of the last weeks that have sometimes been very violent.
Different investigations must make it possible to clarify the circumstances of this aggression that lasted nearly eight minutes, filmed by a camera, without any supervisor interview. “Yvan held blasphemical remarks to God” but “there was nothing personal” in this aggression, said his aggressor, Franck Elong ABE, according to the first audition report consulted by AFP and of which Elements have been published Wednesday by the daily Liberation.
“I consider God hit Yvan colonna through my hands,” he repeated, adding: “I have not acted on behalf of any group, that we are clear. I I acted alone “. He also seemed to dismiss a premeditation to commit aggression. The conclusions of the administrative inspection were expected in early April and the hearings to the Assembly continue.