The family of Corsican independence activist Yvan Colonna, in a coma following being assaulted by a fellow detainee, called on Saturday for the mobilization in Corsica to be relayed “beyond nationalist circles”, on the eve of a planned demonstration in Corte (Haute-Corse).
“We will be in thought alongside this youth who, tomorrow Sunday, calls for a mobilization by which they wish to denounce what Corsica is undergoing, just like our family today following so many others”, wrote the Colonna family. in a letter sent by Christine Colonna, the sister of the former shepherd.
“We also care that this mobilization can be extended to other associative sensibilities, political or otherwise, that our calls can be heard, relayed beyond the nationalist circles to which we ourselves belong,” she added. . On Wednesday, Yvan Colonna was the victim of a violent assault on a fellow prisoner in the prison of Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône) where he was serving his sentence for the assassination of the prefect of Corsica Claude Erignac in 1998.
Questions regarding aggression
Since then, demonstrations have followed one another on the island, from rallies in front of the prefectures to the blocking of ferries, with the slogan “French State assassin”, once morest a background of questions regarding the conditions of the attack on Yvan Colonna, who had been asking for a long time to be brought together in a prison on the island.
In their letter, the family denounces an “aggression, brutal, barbaric, technically controlled”, and speaks of “attempted assassination”. It announces “legal initiatives” as soon as possible. According to the first elements of the investigation, then entrusted to the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office, the prisoner who attacked Yvan Colonna strangled him with his bare hands. Sunday at midday, the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office will hold a press conference in Paris regarding the attack on Yvan Colonna.
His relatives complained that they lacked information just following the attack, in particular from the prison administration. “Yvan was then announced deceased then in a state of brain death and finally in a stationary but nevertheless very serious condition. These simple facts are indicative of an abnormally confused, incomprehensible, suspicious situation,” denounces the family.
The family “touched by marks of sympathy”
The Colonna say they are “deeply touched by all the marks of sympathy, solidarity and support that the Corsicans, but not only, wherever they are, in France, or right here, unknown or close, have testified to us.” “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all this, and for what you will do in the days to come!” They add in Corsican.
On Saturday night, banners in support of Yvan Colonna were unfurled in a grandstand at the Furiani stadium in Haute-Corse during the Ligue 2 match between SC Bastia and Valenciennes.
“For Yvan and for the people, once morest the murderous state. I spit in your face. All in Corte “, might we read, inscribed in black letters on white tarpaulins, brandished from the East tribune which shelters the ultras Bastiais, or even “France outside”. The match went off without incident.
Sunday, a demonstration at the call of the nationalist student unions, joined by many political parties and unions, should bring together hundreds of people in Corte.
At the end of January, Corsican MPs warned of the conditions of detention of Yvan Colonna, who was under special surveillance due to his status as a “particularly well-known prisoner”. Claiming that he was being subjected to “degrading treatment from a legal point of view”, these Corsican nationalist deputies had requested his transfer to the island in order to bring him closer to his family.
