” The French State is not an assassin “, affirmed the prefect of Corsica this Monday, March 7 in response to the slogan widely taken up in Corsica during the demonstrations organized since the aggression last Wednesday of the independence activist Yvan Colonna, seriously injured by a fellow prisoner.
” The French state is not a murderous state, the French state has never been a murderous state. To claim otherwise is contrary to the truth “, declared this Monday to Agence France-Presse the new prefect of Corsica, Amaury de Saint-Quentin. ” I am sad and unhappy to see such a slogan worn on a territory where France and the Republic have done so much “, he added in reference to the slogan in Corsican language Statu Francese Assassinu. ” It is a writing and a slogan that hurt a prefect. The urgency today is to renew the dialogue with all the actors of the territory and find the way of appeasement “.
He assured ” understand the pain, the anger of some “, but that this ” drama » « does not justify violence » who enameled demonstrations, especially on Sunday. ” I register as a partner of the elected officials, of all the elected officials, whatever their political color, with a single requirement: that these elected officials have respect for the Republic, its principles, its values. “, he added.
Demonstrations in front of high schools
The independence activist Yvan Colonna, imprisoned in Arles, in the Bouches-du-Rhône, for the assassination of the prefect Claude Erignac in 1998, was violently attacked by a fellow prisoner Wednesday. He has since been between life and death, treated in a Marseille hospital.
This attack gave rise to numerous demonstrations in the Island of Beauty and in particular to a large rally in Corte on Sunday March 6 which brought together 4,200 people according to the authorities and 15,000 according to the organizers. The demonstration was marred by clashes with the police: four gendarmes and 24 demonstrators were injured.
This Monday, March 7, the day of recovery after the school holidays, eleven establishments, colleges and high schools, out of a total of 47, were the scene of ” blocks and block attempts led by students in support of Yvan Colonna. ” For the vast majority of these establishments, a passage is left to students wishing to go to class “Said a spokesperson for the rectorate, adding that” there are no particular tensions “. ” The management teams of the educational establishments make every effort to maintain the reception of the pupils and the course of the lessons in a logic of dialogue and appeasement. “, also indicated the rectorate.
The University of Corsica in Corte is still blocked, Rachel Reggeti Giudicelli, president of the nationalist student union Ghjuventu Indipendentista (GI), told AFP on Monday.
(With AFP)