New demonstrations broke out this Wednesday in several cities in Corsica including Bastia, Calvi and Ajaccio in support of the independence activist Yvan Colonna, still between life and death.
A 16-year-old high school student hit in the head on Tuesday in Ajaccio by a shot from defense ball launchers (LBD) during a demonstration, was transferred to Marseille, we learned on Wednesday from concordant sources.
“He received direct blows from the security forces who dragged him 40m.
There is a video online.
Then they left him bleeding in the street, on the ground, to the fire department.
He was evacuated overnight to La Timone” in Marseille, his uncle, Paul-Félix Benedetti, head of the independence party Core in Fronte, reported on Wednesday.
“He was operated on during the night” because “he had a depression in the cranial box with a hematoma.
He has 50 staples on his skull, plus yesterday's wounds that had been sutured,” his aunt continued.
Read alsoIn Corsica, the assassination attempt against Yvan Colonna rekindles the embers of nationalist violence
“The security forces acted in response to numerous projectile throws.
Tear gas bombs and LBDs were used in response.
The mobile gendarmes intervened to help him and hand him over to the firefighters present on the spot, who provided him with first aid.
He was visibly carrying a projectile,” said Michel Tournaire, coordinator for security in Corsica, attached to the prefecture.
For its part, the Ajaccio prosecutor's office clarified that it had not received a complaint at this stage in this file.
A source close to the case confirmed that the teenager was indeed hit in the head by an LBD shot.
According to the same source, another 14-year-old boy was also shot in the lower neck on Tuesday, "but his life is not in danger".
Clashes in Bastia and Calvi
New rallies were underway this Wednesday evening in front of the prefectures of Ajaccio, Bastia and Calvi.
“Since 5 p.m., violent demonstrators have been attacking the police positioned inside and around the prefecture of Bastia,” said the prefect in a press release which adds that 8 CRS were injured.
“The firefighters took care of three injured people,” he continues, including two with wounds to the skull and face.
A photographer from the Corse Matin newspaper was also injured.
The management, the editorial staff, the SNJ, STC, FO, CGT sections, and the Society of Journalists of Corse-Matin give their unconditional support to their injured colleague and to those who have been threatened, condemn with the greatest firmness the aggression and threats.
@Corse_Morning
– France 3 Corsica (@FTViaStella) March 9, 2022
In Calvi, nearly 500 people gathered in front of the sub-prefecture according to Corse Matin.
The newspaper states that fires were lit near the building.
Hooded youths also threw Molotov cocktails and stones without causing any significant damage at this stage.
Letter from the Colonna family
In this tense climate, the sister of Yvan Colonna published a letter on behalf of the family, intended for Corsican youth, distributed in Corte during the meeting of all the nationalist movements, indicates France 3. The sister of the prisoner welcomes “the momentum of solidarity” but announces that it is not “favorable to the planned demonstration on Sunday March 13 in Bastia.
The Colonna family, on the other hand, indicates that they wish to "work on one of the largest popular gatherings that Corsica has known, dignified, solemn, at the height of the gravity of what is being done to us" and calls on young people to demonstrate calmly.
Clashes erupted on Tuesday in Corsica, in the wake of new demonstrations of anger after the attack a week ago on Yvan Colonna in Arles prison, an attack that plunged the independence activist into a coma.
Wednesday evening, Nicolas Septe, public prosecutor in Ajaccio, had reported nine injuries in Ajaccio, including two among the police.
The seven demonstrators were hit by LBD fire.
A CRS was injured by a cobblestone in the neck and a gendarme injured in the leg by an agricultural grenade, according to a police source.
According to the same source, hooded people also threw three gas canisters at burning wooden pallets.
The firefighters intervened and nothing exploded.
In Bastia, five CRS were injured.
