Corsica experienced a day of tension on Friday, two days after the attack on independence activist Yvan Colonna by a fellow prisoner, with blockages of ferries and evening demonstrations, AFP noted.
Read alsoYvan Colonna: the question of the return of detainees embarrasses the executive
On Friday evening, demonstrations took place across the island, from Propriano to L'Ile-Rousse.
250 people thus gathered in front of the prefecture of Corsica in Ajaccio, to the sound of Corsican songs and cries of
“French State assassin”
in the Corsican language, according to figures from the prefecture.
Fire against the closed gates of the prefecture and the firing of agricultural bombs in the gardens of the latter marked the end of the rally, AFP noted, without the police, very present, intervening.
Demonstrations had already taken place Thursday in Corsica after the attack on Wednesday of the independence activist Yvan Colonna by a fellow prisoner in the prison of Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône) where he is serving a sentence for the assassination of the prefect of the island Claude Erignac in 1998. In Corsica, questions and accusations abound on the possible responsibility of the State while Yvan Colonna has long been demanding his rapprochement on the island.
A boat prevented from docking
On Friday morning, a boat from the Corsica Ferries company was prevented from docking for 7 hours in Ajaccio.
The Corsican Workers' Union (STC) of competing companies Corsica Linea and La Méridionale, which had called on Thursday evening to "hinder the landing of repressive troops on the island" took action on Friday morning.
At 2:00 p.m., the ferry was finally able to dock and disembark its passengers with the exception of ten gendarmes and their vehicles who remained in the boat at the dock.
But at the start of the evening, activists from the independence party Corsica Libera, who demanded that the police return to the mainland, briefly blocked another ship from the same company from Italy, which was arriving in Bastia.
In the evening, the situation was unblocked,
Marine Le Pen postpones her visit
Faced with these tensions, the entourage of Marine Le Pen, the presidential candidate of the National Rally, who was to travel to Corsica on Sunday as part of her campaign, announced that this visit was postponed.
"The situation of public order in Corsica does not allow this campaign move"
, justified the same source to AFP.
Read also“State Assassination”: anger wins the Corsicans after the aggression of Yvan Colonna
After the violent attack suffered by Yvan Colonna, the autonomist president of the Corsican executive council, Gilles Simeoni told AFP to ask, with the president of the Assembly of Corsica, the creation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry.
A request supported by UDI deputy Jean-Christophe Lagarde.
Transported in serious condition to a hospital in Marseille, the former shepherd was still being treated there on Friday evening according to his relatives, who did not give further information on his state of health.
His attacker being presented as a
"jihadist"
, the national anti-terrorist prosecution (Pnat) was seized of the investigation.
Nationalist activists and student unions are calling for a big demonstration on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in Corte, the former capital of the island.
