The Paris Court of Appeal on Thursday ordered the release under judicial control of independence activist Charles Pieri, who was incarcerated in a case involving terrorist offenses, said a source close to the case.
At the end of its indictment on December 9 in a judicial investigation on the threat of the return to armed struggle of the FLNC, the Corsican National Liberation Front, Charles Pieri, 72, had been imprisoned in the Paris region.
His state of health would partly explain the decision
A judge of freedoms and detention (JLD) of the court of Paris had decided Friday not to extend his pre-trial detention. But the anti-terrorist prosecutor's office (Pnat) appealed this decision. The investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed Thursday the non-extension of the provisional detention of Mr. Pieri, who is placed under judicial control with the obligation not to reside in Corsica, said the close source.
"Despite the maneuvers of the Pnat who tried everything to thwart the release of Charles Pieri by appealing the order of the JLD within a quarter of an hour and by hearing this case on the day scheduled for his release, the investigating chamber confirmed" his release, responded to AFP one of his lawyers, Eric Barbolosi. "It is a decision totally justified in view of the elements of the file and his state of health" in particular, he added, stressing his "great satisfaction".
According to Corse-Matin, Pieri left Thursday around 22 p.m. the prison of Fleury-Mérogis (Essonne) where he was detained. His house arrest currently prohibits him from returning to the island.
In this case, Charles Pieri, a figure in the Corsican struggle for independence, suspected of having led the FLNC for a time, and seven other people are indicted for unauthorized acquisition and possession of category B weapons in connection with a terrorist enterprise, refusal to communicate or implement an encryption key. The activist of the pro-independence party Corsica Libera, who disputes the charges, was the only one to be imprisoned.
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Corsica has experienced a proliferation of arson attacks on second homes, most often accompanied by nationalist tags. On several occasions, the tag "Freedom for Charles Pieri" in Corsican language was discovered on these burned houses.
