France opens terror investigation into jail attack amid new protests in Corsica

France's National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office on Thursday opened an inquiry into the violent attack in a southern jail which left Corsican militant Yvan Colonna in a coma.

View of Ajaccio port, Corsica, where protests in solidarity with prisoner Yvan Colonna have been organised (illustration) Sami Sarkis / Getty Images

Meanwhile, tension has mounted after his supporters blocked a ferry in the port of Ajaccio on Friday in a bid to prevent police reinforcements arriving on the island.

The National agency in charge of anti-terrorism cases (Pnat) said they would investigate the actions of the attacker, Franck Elong Abé, a 36-year old Cameroonian national currently serving a 9 year term for "association with groups planning a terrorist act".

According to sources close to the case, the suspect told investigators his act was in response to "blasphemy" attributed to the victim, who "spoke ill of the prophet".

Yvan Colonna, incarcerated at the Arles prison was attacked on Wednesday while he was working out alone, the victim of "strangulation with bare hands and then choking," according to Tarascon prosecutor Laurent Gumbau.

• Corsican nationalist Yvan Colonna in a coma after being attacked by fellow prisoner

"The circumstances of this attack and the initial elements leads us to believe it was not motivated on personal grounds. We are pursuing Elong Abé for attempted murder in relation to a terrorist group" the Pnat said, adding the suspect would be transferred to Marseille.

The family's lawyer Patrice Spinosi said the 61-year-old Colonna was in a stable condition, insisting on the fact that he was not brain dead, contrary to some earlier media reports.

Tensions simmering

The pro-independence militant was arrested in 2003 and jailed for life over the murder of police chief Claude Erignac in 1998, an accusation he has systematically denied.

In Corsica, angry Colonna supporters have reiterated that they hold the French state responsible for the turn of events and have organised protests in solidarity with the Colonna family.

Requests made primarily by Colonna, who has been placed under the status of "detainee of particular interest" (DPS), which prevents him from being incarcerated in the Corsican prison of Borgo, were all refused.

The entrance to University of Corte was taken over and blocked on Thursday, where banners read "French State Assassin" and "Glory to you Yvan". Student unions said they were planning another rally in Corte on Sunday, joined by members of the independence group Corsica Libera.

The collective of prisoners in Ajaccio and Borgo put up banners and announced a hunger strike to show their support for Colonna and call for the transfer of all Corsican prisoners to the island's jails.

Le collectif des prisonniers d'Ajaccio et de Borgo apporte son soutien à Yvan #colonna et réclame le rapprochement immédiat de l'ensemble des détenus corses.
Une grève des plateaux repas jusqu’à nouvel ordre a été mise en place. https://t.co/T4M5VqqCEg pic.twitter.com/1GUkofaKm9

— France 3 Corse (@FTViaStella) March 3, 2022

Around a hundred riot police have been dispatched to the island in view of further protests, a decision criticised by unions for ferry companies who put out a statement calling on their workers to "block their arrival".

The ferry arriving from Toulon at 7h in Ajaccio port was unable to reach the quay, according to journalists at the scene on Friday.

"The police regret this action as the transport in question only concerns regular gendarme vehicles, that are not carrying personnel or material designed for crowd control," the prefecture said in a statement.

The president of Corsica Ferries Pierre Mattei said there were 250 people on board, including a dozen police officers, and most people were trying to get back home after the end of the school holidays. Negotiations were underway to find a solution to disembark the passengers.

"It's an extremely tense situation," Gilles Simeoni, president of the executive council of Corsica and former lawyer for Colonna told the press, as he called for calm on Thursday.

"Corsica has nothing to gain from entering into a spiral of tension and confrontation...but so far we have only received one response from Paris, and that has been silence, contempt and a refusal to apply law."

Simeoni has called for an immediate independent parliamentary inquiry into the Colonna attack, adding that "there are many grey zones in this affair," expressing a longtime feeling of mistrust for mainland authorities when it comes to Corsica.

Around 50 members of the STC ferry union were present during the blockade. They said that even if they managed to stop a handful of police from disembarking, their mission would still be a success.