After several days of calm following the burial of Yvan Colonna, who died as a result of his assault in prison where he was serving a life sentence for the murder of Prefect Claude Erignac, the Corsican air has returned loaded with tear gas this Sunday night.
Two rallies quickly interspersed with scuffles were held in front of two barracks near Bastia and in Ajaccio, at the call of independence organizations which accuse the CRS of having sung the Marseillaise on the day of the funeral of the activist Yvan Colonna.
What happened ?
These calls for protests were launched by the pro-independence movements Core in Fronte, Corsica Libera (a minority in the Corsican Assembly) and nationalist student unions, the main drivers of this mobilization after the death of Yvan Colonna. At least 500 people had moved in front of the Furiani barracks south of Bastia. Shortly after the rally began in the early evening, a few dozen youths shook the gates of the camp, lit a fire, causing tear gas from the CRS.
Fifty masked protesters then threw stones, smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails at law enforcement. They were only a handful around 9 p.m. A sign in Corsican “Francesi di merda” (Shit French) was also hung and a French flag burned.
Two law enforcement officers were slightly injured in the hand, Haute-Corse prefecture said. Firefighters reported a few minor injuries at the protesters. In Ajaccio, some 200 people also gathered in front of the Aspretto barracks. Some protesters lit a fire in front of the gate leading to a retaliation by law enforcement with tear gas grenades and a water cannon. The scattering took place shortly after 8 p.m.
What do we see on the video at the origin of these tensions?
It was nine seconds that were enough to ignite the powder. The source of these clashes between CRS and Corsican nationalists is a short video of less than ten seconds, relayed on social networks at least from Saturday morning. In these images, which several sources have identified as being at the CRS barracks in Furiani, we can clearly hear a group of men, in civilian clothes, singing La Marseillaise.
According to a police union source interviewed by AFP, “this company was at rest and they ate outside because the weather was good.” Another police source also confirmed to Libération “that a Republican security company was resting this Friday, and organized a barbecue in the canton of Furiani” in the north of the island. Nevertheless, the authenticity of these images cannot be dated or ascertained. For his part, Corsican MP Jean Félix Aquaviva said on Monday on Franceinfo that “people who live or work next door” were able to testify to him about the holding of this scene on Friday at 3 p.m.
Why is it shocking in Corsica?
In this video sequence, two elements particularly irritate Corsican nationalists. First of all, there is the supposed day and time of its capture. On social networks, several witnesses ensure that this moment of conviviality was held on Friday around 3 p.m., at the same time as the funeral of Yvan Colonna, the murderer of the prefect Erignac. The author of a second video, with a new angle, assured our colleagues from Corsica morning that his images had been shot just before 3 p.m.
In addition to the context of this video, these are also words that the CRS would pronounce which provoke anger in Corsica. Christine Colonna, the sister of Yvan Colonna, also posted the video accompanied by four words: “They got it…”. Indeed, some are convinced to hear, in the last moments of the video, these few words concluding La Marseillaise and preceded by applause. Words that are difficult to decipher and that the second witness questioned by Corse matin did not hear. On the other hand, at least one other song, “Alouette, gentille alouette”, was sung.
What reaction from the state?
For his part, the Corsican MP Jean Félix Aquaviva (Libertés et Territoires group) demanded “accountability from the government”, the Femu a Corsica autonomous party of the president of the executive council of Corsica Gilles Simeoni, who did not call for manifested, denounced “pure colonial hatred.”
The police information and communication service (Sicop) did not wish to make “communication on this video”. Questioned by Le Parisien, the Ministry of the Interior had not responded at the time of publication of this article. But police sources explained to AFP that, “as usual, these CRS sang many songs including La Marseillaise, but unrelated to the funeral of Yvan Colonna”.
Asked about Public Senate this Monday morning, Gabriel Attal, the government spokesperson, who explained that he had not seen this video, called for “calm and appeasement”.