Heavy security setup around Nouméa’s tribunal on Saturday 22 June 2024 Photo: NCla1ère
A group of pro-independence leaders charged with allegedly organising protests that turned into violent unrest in New Caledonia last month was indicted on Saturday and have been transferred to mainland France where they will be held in custody pending their trial.
Christian Téin and ten others were taken by French security forces during a dawn operation in Nouméa on Wednesday 19 June.
Since then, they have been held for a preliminary period not exceeding 96 hours.
The indicted group members are suspected of being the "order-givers" within a "Field Action Coordinating Cell" (CCAT) that was set up last year by Union Calédonienne (UC), one of the more radical parties forming the pro-independence FLNKS (Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front) platform.
On behalf of CCAT, Téin organised a series of marches and protests, mainly peaceful, in New Caledonia, to oppose plans by the French government to change eligibility rules for local elections, which the pro-independence movement said would further marginalise indigenous Kanak population votes.
Late on Saturday, New Caledonia's Public Prosecutor Yves Dupas told local media the indictment follows a decision made by one of the two "liberties and detention" judges dedicated to the case on the same day.
He ruled that Christian Téin should be temporarily transferred to a jail in Mulhouse (north-east of France), Téin's lawyer Pierre Ortet told media.
Téin was seen entering the investigating judge's chambers on Saturday afternoon, local time, and exiting the office about half an hour later after he had been notified of his indictment.
Other suspects include Brenda Wanabo-Ipeze, described as the CCAT's communications officer, who is to be transferred to another French jail in Dijon (South-East of France).
Frédérique Muliava, described as Chief of Staff of New Caledonia's Congress President Roch Wamytan (also a major figure of the UC party), is to be sent to another jail in Riom (near Clermont-Ferrand, Central France).
The "presumed order-givers of the exactions committed starting from 12 May 2024" are facing a long list of charges, including incitement, conspiracy, and complicity to instigate murders on officers entrusted with public authority.
The transfer was decided "to ensure investigations can continue in a serene way and away from any pressure", Dupas stressed.
'Shock', 'surprise', 'stupor' reactions
Thomas Gruet, Wanabo-Ipeze's lawyer, commented on the judge's decision: "My client would never have imagined ending up here. She is extremely shocked because, in her view, this is just about activism."
He said his client had "spent the whole of her first night (of indictment) handcuffed".
Gruet said he was "extremely shocked and astounded" by this decision.
"I believe all the mistakes regarding the management of this crisis have now been made by the judiciary, which has responded politically. My client is an activist who has never called for violence. This will be a long trial, but we will demonstrate that she has never committed the charges she faces."
At around midnight local time (1am Sunday NZ time), Gruet was seen bringing his client a large pink suitcase containing a few personal effects which he had collected from her house.
The transferred suspects are believed to have boarded a special flight in the early hours of Sunday.
Téin's lawyer, Pierre Ortet, said "we are surprised and in a stupor".
"We have already appealed (the ruling). Mr Téin intends to defend himself against the charges. It will be a long and complicated case."
Another defence lawyer, Stéphane Bonomo, commented: "If this was about making new martyrs of the pro-independence cause, then there would not have been a better way to do it."
On the French national political level and in the context of electoral campaigning ahead of the snap general election, to be held on 30 June and 7 July, far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said the decision to transfer Téin was "an alienation of his rights and a gross and dramatic political mistake".
Late hearings Nouméa’s tribunal on Saturday 22 June 2024 Photo: NCla1ère
Other indicted persons
Among other persons who were indicted at the weekend are Guillaume Vama and Joël Tjibaou, the son of charismatic pro-independence FLNKS leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou, who signed the Matignon peace agreement in 1988 and was assassinated one year later by hard-line members of the pro-independence movement.
Tjibaou and several others have asked for a delay to prepare their defence and they will be heard on Tuesday 25 June.
Pending that hearing, they will not be transferred to mainland France and will be kept in custody in Nouméa, Tjibaou's lawyer Claire Ghiani said.
Why CCAT leaders are targeted
The indicted group members are suspected of being the "order-givers" within the CCAT.
The constitutional amendment that would allow voters residing in New Caledonia for a minimum period of ten years to take part in New Caledonia's provincial elections, has been passed by both of France's houses of Parliament (the Senate, on 2 April and the French National Assembly, on 14 May).
But the text, which still required a final vote from the French Congress (a joint sitting of both Houses), is now "suspended" by President Macron, mainly due to his calling of the snap general election on 30 June and 7 July.
Violent riots involving the burning, and looting of over six hundred businesses and two hundred residential houses, erupted mainly in the capital Nouméa starting from 13 May.
Nine persons, including two French gendarmes, have died as a result of the violent clashes.
Over 7000 people are already believed to have lost their jobs for a total financial damage estimate now well over €1 billion as a result of the unrest.
CCAT has consistently denied responsibility for the grave ongoing and violent civil unrest.
Fresh clashes in Nouméa and outer islands
On the previous night, there has been a new upsurge of violence and clashes in Nouméa and its surroundings, including the townships of Dumbéa (where about thirty rioters have attempted to attack the local police station) and the neighbourhoods of Vallée-du-Tir, Magenta and Tuband, public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la 1ère reported.
On the outer island of Lifou (Loyalty Islands group, north-east of the main island), the airstrip was damaged and as a result, all Air Calédonie flights were cancelled.