Status: 03/10/2022 2:22 p.m
The attack on a famous Corsican separatist in prison has sparked violent riots in Corsica. Demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails at government buildings and police officers, injuring many people.
On the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, numerous people were injured in violent riots, including demonstrators, police officers and journalists. On Wednesday evening, protests against the French authorities had turned violent in several cities on the island.
According to official information, demonstrators threw stones and Molotov cocktails at police officers and government buildings in several cities. A bank was also looted.
In Ajaccio, the island’s capital in the south, they set fire to the Palace of Justice, which, according to the fire department, was extinguished before it affected the entire building. According to the authorities, at least 40 people were injured in Bastia and Ajaccio alone.
Police officers in front of burning barricades in Corsica. The riots were the most violent of the current protests so far.
Image: dpa
Famous Separatist attacked
The background to the riots is an attack on the imprisoned Corsican separatist Yvan Colonna. The 61-year-old Schäfer has been in a prison on the mainland since 1998 for the murder of a Corsican prefect. He has always denied the fact. A fellow inmate believed to be a jihadist tried to suffocate Colonna with a plastic bag, sources said. Colonna survived the attack but is in a coma.
Fight for independence from France
Among other things, the demonstrators accuse the authorities of not having Colonna transferred to a Corsican prison as he had wished. He is considered by many to be the hero of the fight for the island’s independence from France. For years, separatists had waged this struggle with violence, including attacks. The underground organization FLNC only laid down its arms in 2014, since then nationalists have gained political influence.