In New Caledonia, the violence that has been shaking the archipelago since May 13 claimed a new victim on Wednesday, July 10, bringing the death toll to 10. A man was killed by a retaliatory shot from the police at the Saint-Louis tribe, a pro-independence stronghold. In response, during the night, a school was set on fire and roadblocks were set up on certain roads, but these events remained relatively contained. The identity of the victim may have something to do with it.
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Rock Victorin Wamytan, known as “Banane”, 38, a member of the family of a Kanak leader from New Caledonia, was killed on Wednesday east of Noumea in an exchange of fire with the gendarmes. The tenth victim since the beginning of the violence tearing New Caledonia apartThe resident of the Kanak tribal sector of Saint-Louis was fatally injured by a shot near the Saint-Louis mission church, said the public prosecutor of Noumea, Yves Dupas.
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The soldier did ” use of his service weapon “in a response to an attack” characterizing imminent danger to his comrades and himself “, added the prosecutor. Two investigations have been opened by the prosecution, one for attempted murder of a person in authority, the second for intentional violence resulting in death without the intention of causing it. ” At this stage of the investigation, and subject to ongoing investigations, the hypothesis of an act of self-defense could be favored in view of the circumstances which led the gendarme to use his service weapon. “, says Yves Dupas.
Armed robberies and Catholics driven out
The kind of situation that could add fuel to the fire in this context of very high tensions in the archipelago. However, apart from the burning of a school and roadblocks on certain roads, which remains moderate compared to what the “Caillou” has experienced since last May, there has been no major resurgence of tension. Is the reason to be sought in the identity of the man killed? Rock Victorin Wamytan was suspected of being the author of about ten armed car thefts since June 30. Acts committed on the road that passes in front of the Saint-Louis tribe, where the independence activists have installed roadblocks, reports our correspondent in Noumea, Charlotte Mannevy. With several accomplices, the man had also chased away the sisters of the Catholic mission a few days ago and had settled in the premises as well as in the neighboring presbytery from where the gang harassed the neighborhood and the police.
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A second cousin of the pro-independence president of the congress, “Banana” had spent several periods in prison, notably for his role in the violent riots that shook the tribe in 2016, after the death of a young man killed during a road check. A father, a radical pro-independence activist, but also uncontrollable, Rock Victorin Wamytan is “ one death too many ” on an island of 270,000 inhabitants already in too much mourning. But he is also the symbol of this handful of young Kanaks who have become desocialized by repeated stays in a notoriously overcrowded and unsanitary prison.