The extradition of protest leaders to France results in the burning of police vehicles and the blocking of roads in the Pacific territory.
Violence erupted again in New Caledonia following the extradition to France of pro-independence leaders.
Protesters in the French Pacific territory burned police vehicles and blocked roads overnight on Sunday after activist Christian Tein and six others were flown to France for pre-trial detention in connection with recent violence in which nine people, including two police officers were killed.
The French High Commission in New Caledonia’s capital, Noumea, said in a statement on Monday that protesters set fire to the town hall in the commune of Koumac and destroyed areas in Paita.
Dumbea town council said a firefighting vehicle was attacked, possibly with gunfire, and some schools were forced to close due to the protests.
Politicians loyal to France, including Sonia Backes and Nicolas Metzdorf, said in a statement on Monday that a third of local businesses had been destroyed.
They added that they had sent a letter to President Emmanuel Macron requesting that the New Caledonian government be placed under state administration as he was “no longer fit to lead”.
‘Astonished’
Unrest in the semi-autonomous French Pacific territory erupted in May after France voted to approve reforms to allow thousands more French residents who have lived in the territory for 10 years to vote.
Paris says the measure is necessary to improve democracy. However, the indigenous Kanak people fear that France’s decision will dilute their vote and make it more difficult to pass any future independence referendum.
Tein, the leader of the pro-independence movement CCAT (Field Action Coordination Cell), was arrested last week.
Along with six other people, he was transferred to a prison on mainland France to await trial on charges related to last month’s riots, which, in addition to the deaths, caused hundreds of injuries and an estimated $1.6 billion in damage.
France sent 3,000 soldiers and police to the archipelago, about 1,300 km (800 miles) northeast of Australia, to restore calm.
“This transfer was organized overnight via a plane specially chartered for the mission,” said Yves Dupas, public prosecutor in the territory’s capital, Noumea, in a statement on Sunday.
Daniel Goa, president of the Caledonian Union, the largest pro-independence political party, said he was “surprised” by the deportations.
“All they did was organize more peaceful demonstrations,” he said in a statement. He denied the prosecutor’s allegations that Tein and the others were sponsors of the violence.
CCAT has been operating barricades that have disrupted traffic for weeks.
Tein met Macron during the latter’s visit to Noumea last month, aimed at resolving the political impasse.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
