The union of Corsican workers (STC) of the maritime companies Corsica Linea and La Méridionale has been preventing since Friday morning the docking in Ajaccio of a ship from their competitor Corsica Ferries which they accuse of transporting police reinforcements to the island, this denied by the authorities.
Demonstrations took place in Corsica after the attack on Wednesday by a fellow prisoner of independence activist Yvan Colonna, in the prison of Arles where he was serving a sentence for the assassination of the prefect of Corsica Claude Erignac in 1998. The ferry, which was to disembark at 7 a.m. from the port of Toulon, is stopped in the Gulf of Ajaccio, a hundred meters from the quay, noted an AFP journalist.
A dozen law enforcement officers
“For the moment the ship cannot enter the port,” Pierre Mattei, CEO of Corsica Ferries, told AFP. There are “more than 250 people on board, including a dozen members of the police”, he added, specifying that it was the end of the school holidays in Corsica and that there was therefore good number of people returning from holidays on this ferry.
Our file on the aggression of Yvan Colonna
“The prefect regrets this protest movement since the transport in question concerns gendarmerie vehicles as part of regular logistical transport, without reinforcements or law enforcement equipment in the boat”, indicated to the AFP the prefecture, stating that there were only five vehicles with their driver.