Serious riots broke out in several cities on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica on Wednesday evening. In Bastia in the north of the island, 23 police officers, at least three demonstrators and a photojournalist were injured, as the prefecture of the Haute-Corse region announced in the evening. Violent demonstrators attacked police officers at the city’s prefecture building with 95 Molotov cocktails, among other things, it said.
In the island’s capital Ajaccio in the south of the island, according to the local prefecture, demonstrators also attacked the police in front of the administration building with fire bombs and stones, among other things. The police used tear gas and shock grenades. Authorities reported at least four people injured, including a journalist. The newspaper Corse MatinAccording to reports, the Palace of Justice was also hit by a Molotov cocktail, and the fire brigade put out a fire. According to the authorities, demonstrators also attacked an administration building with firebombs and stones in the city of Calvi.
There have been demonstrations and riots on the popular holiday island for about a week after the Corsican separatist Yvan Colonna was attacked by a fellow prisoner in Arles in southern France and critically injured. Colonna, 61, is in a coma. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1998 for the murder of the prefect of Corsica. Demonstrators accuse the French authorities of not transferring Colonna to a prison in Corsica, contrary to Colonna’s request.
Corsican separatists fought violently for decades for independence from France. In 2014, the underground organization FLNC laid down its arms, around the same time moderate nationalists gained political importance.