The worst-case scenario can no longer be ruled out. Until now, violent protests against the reform of the electoral system that shook the Pacific territory of New Caledonia have been confined to the capital, Nouméa, and its suburbs. But it could now spread to the communes in the bush, immense, sparsely urbanized territories, where demonstrators have the home advantage against law enforcement officers from France, more accustomed to an urban environment.
On the morning of Monday, June 24, in Poya, in the north of the island, hundreds of activists clashed with the gendarmerie's armored vehicles, who had come from Koné to remove the blockade on the RT1, the strategic road that crosses the entire main island. On Sunday, in Bourail, in the center of Grande Terre, a man was injured during clashes with law enforcement officers. In the Loyalty archipelago, so far spared from violence, the gendarmerie was targeted by assailants on the island of Maré, while the island of Lifou is now cut off from the rest of the country, following an arson attack that damaged the runway at the local airfield.
Nouméa and its suburbs were not spared. In Dumbéa, the municipal police building was set on fire, as were the brand-new headquarters of a social housing landlord and a climbing wall. Several fires broke out in Païta and the capital. As a result, after more than a month without classes, the vast majority of schools closed their doors again on Monday morning.
This latest outbreak of violence is linked to the detention in mainland France of seven activists from the Cellule de Coordination des Actions de Terrain (CCAT), who have been remanded in custody. Arrested on June 19, they were brought before an investigating judge on Saturday, who indicted them on seven charges, including "complicity in attempted murder" and "participation in a criminal association for the preparation of a crime."
Immediately afterward, the liberty and custody judge informed them that they would be sent to prisons in mainland France, 17,000 km away. Much to the astonishment of their lawyers: "At no time was imprisonment in mainland France mentioned during the proceedings. It was announced to my client at the time of deliberation," protested Thomas Gruet, the "shocked and dumbfounded" lawyer for Brenda Wanabo, CCAT's communications manager, who was detained in Dijon, Burgundy, on Saturday evening.
Informed of their destination – Riom (central France), Mulhouse (eastern France), Bourges (central France) or Blois (central France) – at around 2:30 am, the seven activists were immediately transferred to Magenta airfield, from where they flew to France on a specially chartered flight, as confirmed on Sunday by the prosecutor, Yves Dupas, who said that their detention in the island territory was impossible for security reasons. When contacted, the Ministry of Justice said it was unable to comment on the decision, which was "taken by a totally independent judge" and "based on the needs of the judicial investigation, according to criteria defined by the Code of Criminal Procedure."
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