The nationalist activist and writer Jean-Pierre Santini obtained his release on Wednesday December 9 under judicial supervision, two months after his indictment in Paris in an anti-terrorism investigation for shots targeting a gendarmerie in Corsica, AFP learned from judicial source and with his lawyers.
His judicial control prohibits him in particular from going to Corsica, said the judicial source.
The writer, imprisoned in Fresnes prison (Val-de-Marne) since October 10, must be released Thursday, said Eric Barbolosi, one of his advisers.
"This is obviously the hoped-for outcome for this 76-year-old man who has never been sentenced,"
responded Me Raphaëlle Rischmann, also his lawyer,
"Both with regard to the elements of the file and the criteria that could justify a placement in pre-trial detention"
.
Read also: In Corsica, the mystery of the underground armed group that wants to reform the FLNC
Jean-Pierre Santini was indicted on October 10 along with eight other people, in particular for
“terrorist criminal association”
for firing a firearm targeting the headquarters of the Haute-Corse gendarmerie group in the Montesoro district in Bastia, on the night of July 13th to 14th.
The shooting having been claimed the next day by a commando of four armed and hooded men claiming to be from the Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC), the anti-terrorism pole of Paris had seized the investigation.
The judicial information, opened for
“criminal association of criminal terrorist correctional”
,
“destruction or degradation in assembly”
and
“transport and acquisition of category A or B weapons”
, all in relation to a terrorist enterprise, also concerns two conferences press releases held on July 14, 2020 and September 27, 2019. Five suspects, including Jean-Pierre Santini, had been remanded in custody and four others under judicial supervision.
According to several Corsican media, Federicu Pellerin has since been released under judicial supervision on October 28.
Read also: The Corsicans are alarmed by the mafia drift of their island
In Corsica, the pre-trial detention of Jean-Pierre Santini, on hunger strike for a month, aroused turmoil within the Corsican nationalist movement.
The presidents of the executive council and of the Corsican Assembly, Gilles Simeoni and Jean-Guy Talamoni, had questioned the Minister of Justice on the
“very worrying” situation
and the
“fragile health”
of Jean-Pierre Santini.
Sixty mayors had called for his release.
A first request for the writer's release was rejected in mid-November by judges of the Paris court.
It was their decision that the Paris Court of Appeal overturned on Wednesday.
The court had, however, confirmed his detention on October 23.