There is unrest this week on the island of Corsica. In a prison in southern France, a Corsican nationalist serving life in prison for murdering a Corsican police chief in 1998, a crime he still denies, was attacked by another prisoner and is reportedly in a coma. For Corsicans wanting independence from France, the case of Yvan Colonna is a cause celebe.
Now Colonna has been attacked by a Cameroonian Muslim prisoner who says he acted because the Corsican had committed blasphemy (against the Prophet of Islam). As of this writing, it is believed he is still alive but in a coma. The French are treating this as a case of jihadist terrorism.
The incident has led to demonstrations on the island of Corsica, and France is sending police reinforcements.
The below article from Corse Matin is translated by Fousesquawk. The above link (in English) is from Modern Ghana.com.
The attacker of Yvan Colonna explains his act (caused) by "blasphemy" by Corsican prisoner
By Agence France Presse Posted March 3, 2022 at 16:12
Caption beneath photo: The central prison of Arles where Yvan Colonna was attacked by another prisoner, an ex-jihadist who committed the act due to "blasphemy" uttered by the Corsican prisoner. The National Anti-Terrorism prosecutor has taken over the case.
-AFP Pascal Guyot
The national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office (Pnat) has taken over the investigation into the violent attack at the Arles prison that plunged the militant Corsican separatist Yvan Colonna into a coma.
The attacker, Franck Elong Abe, a Cameroonian, age 36, pictured as a "jihadist", was serving a sentence of 9 years imprisonment since 2016 for "criminal association aimed at preparation for an act of terrorism".
According to several courses close to the case, he explained his act to investigators (was caused by) a blasphemy attributed to Yvan Colonna who had, according to him, had "spoken badly about the Prophet."
"The circumstances of the facts and the initial elements of the investigation, which seem, at this stage, to exclude a quarrel of a personal nature, lead to this referral," stated the Pnat, for its part, in a statement, adding that its jurisdiction "also results from the on-going sentence for a terrorist crime by the person in question."
Custody of Franck Elong Abe now continues for "attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise."
The (transfer of jurisdiction) to Pnat, "will lead to the extension of custody up to 96 hours, and the perpetrator should then be transferred from Marseille to the facilities of SDAT (Sub Directorate Anti-Terrorism) by Friday evening," she added.
"We will, obviously, do everything we have to do, so that the truth will come out," Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin promised on France Inter.
Yvan Colonna, 61, was still in a coma Thursday morning in Marseille, in stable condition, stated Patrice Spinosi, his lawyer and lawyer for the Colonna family, insisting that he is not brain dead.
The independence militant, condemned to life imprisonment for the murder of police chief Claude Erignac in 1998, was the victim of, "strangulation by bare hands then suffocation," while he was body-building alone, the prosecutor of Tarascon, Laurent Gumbau had stated Wednesday.
But in Corsica, questions and accusations abound as to a possible responsibility of the State as Yvan Colonna has long demanded (to be transferred) to the island.
His multiple demands have been systematically refused, the statute of "particularly designated prisoner" (DPS) preventing the Corsican militant from being transferred to the Corsican prison of Borgo.
Subsequent to rallies in Ajaccio, Bastia, and Corte, it was the University of Corte that was blockaded Thursday morning.
Trash cans and pallets were used to block the entrance. On the wall, two banners bearing the messages in Corsican were brandished: "status francese Assasinu" ("French State assassin") and "Gloria a te Yvan" ("Glory to you, Yvan").
Several hundred people gathered at the start of the afternoon in Corte to define the way forward for the mobilization. Among them, the president of the Executive Council of Corsica, Gilles Simeoni, the nationalist deputy, Jean Felix Acquaviva, (and) the president of the Corsica Assembly, Maria-Antoinette Maupertuis.
The (separatist) party, Corsica Libera, has already called for a "march against the prefecture" this Saturday at Ajaccio.
In anticipation of demonstrations, mobile gendarmes and CRS (police reserves) have been sent to reinforce the island.
Jean-Christophe Angelini, who also is calling for the mobilization at Corte along with the autonomist opposition party PNC (Party of the Corsican Nation), has demanded "the truth about this unspeakable act," (and) wonders if the attacker of Yvan Colonna "was obeying a death impulse...or a mission order?"
The shepherd from Cargese had been arrested July 4, 2003, near the village of Olmeto after four years on the run.
Eight years later, and after three trials, he who always claimed having never killed anyone, was sentenced on June 20, 2011, to life imprisonment for the assassination of Prefect Erignac. He has always denied it.
*Update: On March 21, Colonna died of his injuries in a Marseille hospital.
No comments:
Post a Comment