death of Yvan Colonna following his attack in Arles prison
Yvan Colonna, the Corsican independence activist sentenced to life for the assassination of the prefect Erignac, died Monday evening following his attack in Arles prison on March 2, announced his family, via his lawyer Patrice Spinosi.
“The family of Yvan Colonna confirms his death this evening at the hospital in Marseille. They ask that their mourning be respected and will not make any comment”, specified Me Spinosi to AFP, by text message, thus confirming information given. initially by the daily Le Parisien.
The Corsican detainee had been hospitalized for three weeks “in extremely serious condition” according to Me Spinosi, plunged into a coma at the Nord hospital in Marseille.
Yvan Colonna, sentenced to life imprisonment for his participation in the assassination of the prefect Erignac in 1998 in Ajaccio, was attacked by a fellow prisoner on March 2 in Arles prison.
The attacker of Yvan Colonna was indicted for “attempted assassination in connection with a terrorist enterprise” by investigating judges of the Paris court.
Franck Elong Abe, 36, who was already serving sentences in Arles prison, was placed in pre-trial detention several times as part of this judicial investigation also opened for “association of terrorist criminals”.
According to several sources, the aggressor of Yvan Colonna had justified his act by the fact that the Corsican militant would have blasphemed and “spoke badly of the Prophet”.
The 61-year-old independence activist was the victim of “strangulation with his bare hands and then suffocation” with a plastic bag, said Tarascon prosecutor Laurent Gumbau.
This attack had provoked an explosion of anger, with sometimes violent demonstrations, across all of Corsica, for nearly two weeks.
This anger culminated in riots on March 13 in Bastia, with a demonstration that left 102 injured, including 77 on the side of the police.
Calm returned last week with a three-day visit to Corsica by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, a visit during which the tenant of Place Beauvau promised discussions with Corsican elected officials and the living forces of the island. which could lead to eventual autonomy for the community.