The Erignac Affair: Multiple Lasting Repercussions of the 1998 Assassination of the Prefect of Corsica

Abstract:The shocking assassination of Prefect Claude Érignac, gunned down, then finished off at point blank while walking to a concert in Ajaccio in January 1998, set into motion a long series of police investigations, dramatic arrests, trials, bureaucratic imbroglios, and administrative scandals whose repercussions are still being felt today in French society. Tracing the Corsican independentist movements' use of bombings and assassinations back to the 1970s, then following events as they unfolded from Prefect Érignac's assassination to the recent murder of his assassin Yvan Colonna, the present article analyzes the evolution of the Corsican nationalists' logic, strategy, and tactics while at the same time describing key structures and functions of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies that France deployed in response to Corsican terrorism. Numerous flaws, confusions, and unethical actions in several areas have contributed to lasting tensions between the island of Corsica and the French government, and thus created fragmented, dissonant recollections making it difficult to engage in harmonious memorialization.