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Assassination shocks Corsica during funeral ceremony
Alain Orsoni, a prominent figure in Corsican nationalism, was fatally shot on Sunday while attending his mother's burial in the village of Vero, near Ajaccio. The killing, carried out in a cemetery, has sent shockwaves across the French island, already grappling with one of the country's highest murder rates.
Decades of violence and shifting allegiances
Orsoni, 71, had returned from exile in Nicaragua for the funeral. Once a leader in the island's separatist movement, he spent 15 years in prison for orchestrating bomb attacks against French state symbols. Over time, the nationalist struggle splintered, with former militants turning to organized crime-money laundering, extortion, and drug trafficking-to secure lucrative contracts.
Thierry Dominici, a Corsican nationalism expert at the University of Bordeaux, told the BBC that the shift occurred after armed groups abandoned their political campaign. "The French state focused on separatists but overlooked their criminal activities," he said. Unlike Italy's mafia, Corsica's clans lack familial ties or lifelong loyalty, operating instead through opportunism.
A life marked by danger and duality
Orsoni's family has long been entwined with Corsica's turbulent history. His brother was killed by a rival clan in 1983, and his son is imprisoned for drug trafficking and attempted murder. Orsoni himself survived multiple assassination attempts before fleeing to Central America. Despite the risks, he returned to Corsica in 2012 to lead AC Ajaccio, a local football club he guided to France's top division, Ligue 1.
A BBC reporter who spent time with Orsoni that year recalled his charisma-and his precautions. "He wore a bulletproof vest and worked in a windowless bunker," the reporter said. Orsoni's charm and connections, including ties to former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, contrasted sharply with his shadowy reputation. When asked if he was Corsica's "godfather," he quipped, "Only to my grandchildren."
Funeral turns to tragedy amid rising tensions
Orsoni's cremation in Ajaccio on Monday drew a heavy police presence. Close friend Jo Peraldi, a former nationalist jailed for bomb attacks, called the killing "unforgivable." "A cemetery is sacred in Corsica," he told local radio. "No one should be murdered while burying their mother."
Christian Leca, a cousin of the victim, described the attack as "a tipping point in the horror." "People don't kill in cemeteries," he told Le Monde. The island has recorded 35 murders in the past three years, a rate that far exceeds the national average. Victims have included farmers, officials, and business leaders, but the brazen nature of Orsoni's assassination has stunned residents.
Calls for peace amid fears of reprisals
Corsica's regional president, Gilles Simeoni, warned that the murder "increases the mafia pressure" on society. Criminologist Alain Bauer, a security adviser to French governments, predicted further violence. "This was inevitable," he said. "The circumstances are shocking, and revenge killings are likely."
Cardinal François Bustillo, the bishop of Ajaccio, urged an end to the cycle of bloodshed. "We cannot allow Corsica to drift toward its demons," he said after Pope Francis's visit in December 2024. "We must change mentalities."
Investigators from Paris and Marseille are probing the shooting, but the island's deep-rooted vendettas and shifting criminal alliances complicate the search for answers. For now, Corsica remains on edge, mourning a man whose life embodied its contradictions-and whose death may fuel yet more violence.
