Activists of the Kanak Movement in France (MKF) gathered in a town square, before heading to the sub-prefecture to show their support for the pro-independence Kanaks, seven of whom are imprisoned in France.
Among them, Christian Tein is currently detained at the Mulhouse-Lutterbach penitentiary center.
Carrying banners proclaiming “Free our innocents; deported and unjustly condemned” and “Colonization is a crime against humanity”, the activists remained gathered for about two hours before peacefully returning to the prison site, in front of which they demonstrated until around 5:00 p.m.
9 separatists in provisional detention
Since the start of the unrest in New Caledonia linked to the constitutional reform on the thawing of the electoral body criticized by Kanak separatists, 1,520 people have been arrested, according to the high commission of the Republic in the archipelago.
Eleven independence activists were arrested on June 19. Among them, nine were placed in pre-trial detention, including seven in various prisons in France.
The violence, the most serious to have occurred in the archipelago since the 1980s, left nine dead, according to the latest figures from the authorities, and caused considerable material damage (including fires, destruction and looting).
A renewed tension occurred after the transfer to mainland France at the end of last week of independence activists.
Gatherings are also banned in New Caledonia from Saturday morning to Sunday evening and the curfew, in force since the start of the high tensions, has been extended until July 8, the High Commission of the Republic announced on Friday.
