A moment of meditation that is already causing a stir. The Collectivity of Corsica, led by the nationalist executive, announced Tuesday the lowering of its flags after the death of Yvan Colonna, an independence activist violently attacked by a fellow prisoner a few weeks ago.
Convicted of the 1998 assassination of Prefect Claude Erignac, Yvan Colonna was serving a life sentence on the mainland in Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône) when he was violently assaulted in the gym on March 2 by a fellow detainee convicted in particular of terrorism. After almost three weeks in a coma, the former shepherd died on Monday night at the age of 61 in a Marseille hospital. His funeral will be held on Friday in his family village of Cargèse, in southern Corsica.
“To express the collective sadness felt by our people after the tragic death of Yvan Colonna and in the face of the dark hours that Corsica is experiencing, the flags of the Corsican community are hoisted from this day on,” the Community reacted. of Corsica in a sober statement issued on Tuesday evening.
According to our information, the town halls of the region will also lower their flags in the coming days. On Wednesday evening, a dozen Corsican flags at half-mast were hung by demonstrators on the outside gates of the Ajaccio prefecture, with the banner “Glory to you Yvan” in Corsica.
” It’s unbearable “
This commemoration around the figure of Yvan Colonna immediately caused controversy, in a context of tensions already exacerbated in Corsica. On the M6 set on Wednesday evening, President Emmanuel Macron denounced a “fault”, judging the gesture “inappropriate”.
“One thing is to respect the pain and mourning of the Colonna family, another is to transform a man, condemned for the assassination of a Prefect of the Republic, into a hero and martyr. It’s unbearable. I imagine that the State on the spot will react ”, also reacted the former Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
VIDEO. Death of Yvan Colonna: the Corsicans between meditation and fears of an outbreak of violence
“This inversion of values is unbearable. Let’s put things in their place. #YvanColonnaeven if we deplore his death, is not a hero, he is on the contrary an assassin of a Prefect of the Republic”, abounded LREM deputy Catherine Fabre.
A complex figure
If the symbolic choice is strongly contested by certain voices on the continent, in Corsica, the choice to lower the flags in memory of Yvan Colonna is perceived as a moment of meditation, far from any provocation.
“We must not see political significance in this flag-raising.” The death of Yvan Colonna overshadows all these considerations. His journey has marked the history of our island, with very painful moments, ”defends Jean Biancucci, president of the nationalist group Fà populu inseme, at the Point.
For sociologist Jean-Louis Fabiani, author of “Sociology of Corsica”, Yvan Colonna is seen as a “kind of victim of state repression” during his cavalcade, a kind of “somewhat negative hero,” he explains. in France 3 Corsica. “It’s interesting to see that in Corsica, where he is not unanimous, he has become an important figure in the island’s memory,” he said.
Yvan Colonna’s aggression had sparked an outburst of anger in Corsica, with sometimes violent protests across the island for nearly two weeks, behind the widely shared slogan of “French assassin state” ». These tensions culminated in riots on March 13 in Bastia, where a demonstration left 102 injured, 77 of them on the side of law enforcement.