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France cracks down on Corsica crime wave France announces plan to tackle Corsica crime wave
(35 minutes later)
The French government is to announce measures to combat a wave of assassinations linked to organised crime on Corsica after an emergency meeting of key cabinet ministers in Paris. The French government has announced a 10-point emergency plan to combat the wave of assassinations linked to organised crime on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.
The plan follows the shooting last Tuesday of a prominent lawyer, Antoine Sollacaro, as he drove to work. The 63-year-old, who was shot five times in the head at the wheel of his Porsche as he was pulling up at a petrol station near the capital, Ajaccio, was the 15th person to be murdered this year on the Mediterranean island. Not one of the killings, believed to be linked to criminal gangs, has been solved. The plan follows the shooting last Tuesday of a prominent lawyer, Antoine Sollacaro, as he drove to work. The 63-year-old, who was shot five times in the head at the wheel of his Porsche as he was pulling up at a petrol station near the capital, Ajaccio, was the 15th person to be murdered this year on the Mediterranean island. Not one of the killings, believed to be linked to criminal gangs, has been solved.
The office of the prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said he would make a statement after a meeting on Monday morning with his interior, justice, finance and budget ministers, who have been instructed to come up with a "global strategy to fight Corsica's rampant criminality". After a meeting of prominent cabinet ministers in Paris on Monday morning, the office of the French prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, announced a "global strategy to fight Corsica's rampant criminality".
Ayrault said the scale of violence on the so-called Ile de Beauté was "intolerable" and that the government was "determined to act" against organised crime, which he described as a "scourge that undermines" the island. "Economic and financial dealings are behind most of the murders … particular attention will be paid to the fight against money laundering, especially in the fields of property and including sport as well as the procedures for public contracts and urban authorisations," Aurault said.
"Every aspect of this criminality must be tackled, and in particular the economic and financial dimension," Ayrault said. The ten measures include appointing more investigating judges and setting up a special unit of the national gendarmerie to investigate and oversee criminal cases and "co-ordinate internal security".
Corsica has been riddled with internal violence for decades. Previously it was linked to the nationalist movement but in recent years it has been blamed on criminal gangs who have made fortunes from daring bank robberies and large-scale drug trafficking. Aurault also announced tighter controls on financial and fiscal dealings on the island.
Islander Antoine-Marie Graziani, a specialist in the history of the island, blames the French state for the lawlessness, accusing Paris of washing its hands of Corsica. Ayrault called on Corsicans to show a "spirit of responsibility".
"The attitude has been that the republic isn't bothered if it's Corsicans killing each other," Graziani told the Guardian. "They use the terms 'mafia' and 'vendetta' that are not just wrong but dangerous because they allow the state to say it cannot do anything about such things, which is scandalous." "The immense majority of Corsicans are suffering in this situation, each must ask themselves where are the roots of this violence," he said.
He added: "Every time there's a murder they say it is intolerable. I have lived here for 30 years and I must have heard this 50 times. We've had enough of hearing the same thing." After Sollacaro was murdered last week, French president François Hollande said the scale of violence on the so-called Ile de Beauté was "intolerable". Ayrault described the problem of organised crime on Corsica as a "scourge that undermines [the island]".Corsica has been riddled with internal violence for decades. Previously it was linked to the nationalist movement but in recent years it has been blamed on criminal gangs who have made fortunes from bank robberies and large-scale drug trafficking.
Graziani said Paris had to take more active control of the island to stamp out ingrained corruption, money-laundering, drug-dealing and the black economy. Historian Antoine-Marie Graziani has blamed the French state for the lawlessness, accusing Paris of washing its hands of Corsica. He also said it was wrong to describe the gangs as mafia.
"The attitude has been that the republic isn't bothered if it's Corsicans killing each other," said Graziani. "They use the terms mafia' and vendetta that are not just wrong but dangerous because they allow the state to say it cannot do anything about such things, which is scandalous."
He added: "Every time there's a murder they say it is 'intolerable'. I have lived here for 30 years and I must have heard this 50 times. We've had enough of hearing the same thing."
Graziani said Paris had to take more active control of the island to stamp out ingrained corruption, money laundering, drug dealing and the black economy.
"It will be painful but it is the only way," he said."It will be painful but it is the only way," he said.
André Paccou, head of the island's Human Rights League, accused successive French governments of "utter incompetence" in dealing with Corsica's problems. He cited the fact that French detectives investigating organised gangs were based in Marseilles meant they were often "completely out of touch with the realities of Corsican life".André Paccou, head of the island's Human Rights League, accused successive French governments of "utter incompetence" in dealing with Corsica's problems. He cited the fact that French detectives investigating organised gangs were based in Marseilles meant they were often "completely out of touch with the realities of Corsican life".
Paccou told broadcaster France 24 the key to ending the gangs' "reign of impunity" was to stem the flow of their money. Paccou told broadcaster France 24 the key to ending the gangs' "reign of impunity" was to stem the flow of their money.